Water Balloons
by FirePrincess1214
Summary: SPLASH. It was supposed to be the water balloons that fell and exploded. Instead, a love stronger than anything fell upon Fred and Ami. (Sorry for my lame summary, but the story is better.. I hope :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, hope you like my story! I will try to update as often as possible.**

**I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or anything like that**.

"We better hurry to lunch Ami. Before that Ronald boy eats everything up!" Hermione said to me as we walked down a hall way in Hogwarts to get to the Great Hall. I laughed, "Ya, I didn't realize 'pigs' were admitted into Hogwarts as well."

My fellow first year and I laughed as we walked briskly.  
Hermione had become my closest friend at Hogwarts since school started three weeks ago. She was a bit prissy sometimes, but very talented and kind.

I stopped in my tracks very suddenly. Did I hear... a splash? I grabbed my wand and shouted, 'IMMOBULUS'! toward the ceiling. (I did a little studying over the summer.) Above me about 200 water balloons were frozen for a second, but since my spell wasn't very powerful, they were falling again quickly. However, Mione and I were able to dash out of the way in time

I heard someone cursing from behind the corner. Then, two tall redheaded boys came into view, looking both irritated and impressed. I knew them to be Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor third years and notorious pranksters.

George looked at me, "How the heck did you do that?"  
Fred said, "Well someone's a bit of an overachiever now isn't she?"  
I smiled wickedly, "I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. And I suppose you two are Fred and George, the great Hogwarts pranksters. I guess you're not so great if you can't prank a first year."  
George said," Well you got some nerve."  
I said, "That prank could have easily been fixed to make it more accurate and exciting. But i guess you need some brains for that."

"Well you sure can talk the talk. But lets see you walk the walk." Fred said winking at me.

"Is that a challenge?" I asked.

"More like a request," he said,"We could use an assistant for our next prank." I then realized how close Fred had gotten to me. He smelled like raspberries. I backed away and said playfully, "I'll think about it." I noticed Hermione was still standing there, so I grabbed her arm, waved to the boys, and ran off to the Great Hall.

"I didn't catch your name!" Fred called. "Call me Ami!" I yelled back. And so it began.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Amelia Antoinette Rowena Coy**

**Hope you liked the first chapter!**

**A note to my friend, nicknamed "Toph": Hi! I am so glad its Friday**.

I figured, since I'm telling you my story, I should tell you a little bit about myself. Please bear with me.

My birth certificate reads, "Amelia Antoinette Rowena Coy," but call me anything but Ami, and I'll smack the life out of you. "Antoinette" is for my mother's deceased sister, and "Rowena" was for Rowena Ravenclaw. I think my parents had a bit of an obsession with anything Ravenclaw. I have dark red hair and pale skin, and below average height.

My parents are Elizabella and Andrew Coy. Both were perfect and proper Ravenclaw students, and absolutely nothing like me. They were part of the original Order of the Phoenix and were killed by Death Eaters when I was two. I have lived with my aunt, Tara Coy, since then.

Tara works in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and consequently, she travels a lot for her job. I've been all over the world, but for the five years before I began my education at Hogwarts, I lived in America.

As far as my personality, I'm a jokester at heart. However, I have a natural ability to pick skills up very quickly, so some may call me a very talented and powerful witch, not to brag. I am competitive and like to be at the top of my game at all times, and becoming a great witch is very important to me. So, I take my schoolwork pretty seriously.

So here is my oddity: I am a year older than everyone in my year at Hogwarts. Not too long before the Hogwarts letters were going to be sent, 11-year-old me was visiting my Great Aunt in Ireland. She's a bit of a nutter, and somehow she "slipped" a bit of a very powerful hybrid Aging Potion in my drink as a joke. It turned me a year old. The potion was not a traditional Aging Potion, so we were not able to reverse it until after the letters had been sent. I had to wait a whole year until I started at Hogwarts.

One last thing: I had never been in love. Or even had a childhood crush. I had no interest in love or boys or any of those things. Until the day with the water balloons.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Welcome to the Business**

**Here's another chapter. Please review! Constructive criticism is always nice **

It had been two weeks later since the water balloon incident that Fred and George approached me about their next prank. Since then, I had excelled in all my classes, discovered my passion hatred for a certain Professor Snape (The feeling was mutual) and found that I had was better than decent at flying on a broomstick.

Our plan was to fill all of the boys' bathrooms, except for one, with Dung Bombs. I was to take the West Wing, George the East, Fred the South, and their friend Lee Jordan was taking the North. Fred and George apparently had a large supply of Dung Bombs in their trunk, so we each took enough to fill each bathroom to the brim with stink.

Before we separated on the Saturday afternoon, Fred looked at me, "Are you sure you are up for this, darling?"

"Darling? That's a new one." I said grinning. "And of course I'm up for this. Are _you _sure you are up for this? Because I don't work with amateurs." I was only teasing. I had never done a prank to this scale before. Putting whoopee cushions on some innocent subway rider's chair, sure, but I'd never done anything like this.

"Amateur? Darling you are talking to the expert," said Fred," Well if you're ready, I guess we should disperse. Welcome to the business, Coy."

By 2pm I had finished Dung Bomb-ing all the bathrooms in the West Wing. So, I was supposed to meet Fred, George, and Lee by the lake. As I walked down the hallway, I noticed a blond boy wearing a Slytherin tie with two large boys trailing behind him. "And who is this?" the boy said," Another Weasley blood traitor?" referring to my red hair.

"Hmm. No, not exactly. But who is this?" I gestured toward him," Another pompous Slytherin pureblood? And let me guess, your mommy ironed all your color coded socks before you left?" I pointed to his socks, which were an emerald green.

"My father will hear about this!" The blond boy spat.

"Why don't you tell him I said 'Hello' while you're at it then?"

He growled and stomped away, his companions, who hadn't said a word, followed him like big fat, slobbering dogs.

Just a few days after our prank we saw the results: All the boys had to use the bathroom all the way near the Astronomy Tower. The line was enormous.

Fred said to me, " Well I guess we might have to keep you around for awhile."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Chasers**

**Please rate and review! Again, I do not own Harry Potter.**

Fred and George became my best friends at Hogwarts. I met there brothers, Ron, who was in my year, and Percy. I quickly became friends with Ron and the boy, Harry Potter, and Hermione was also still one of my closest friends. In my room in the Gryffindor tower, I was bunking with Hermione and two other girls: Lavendar and Parvarti. I thought they were the most annoying creatures who ever walked the face of the planet (besides the blond boy whose name was Draco Malfoy), but Hermione was a bit more friendly to them.

My favorite classes were Charms and Transfiguration, which were also my best classes along with Potions, which I was surprisingly good at (to Professor Snape's annoyance).

Soon, Fred and George informed me that Quidditch tryouts were coming up, and that they were both Beaters on the team. I'd only played Quidditch a few times, but I was a good flyer and the twins insisted that try out.

We sometimes snuck out to the Quidditch pitch when we could to practice. They told me I would be best at the position of Chaser, and they were in need of one anyway. After a few practices, I was pretty good for a first year. Actually, I was better than pretty good. Pretty amazing if I do say so myself.

Tryout day went by like a blur. The captain Oliver Wood had us run some drills. I turned out to be one of the better Chasers who tried out, besides Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell who were already on the team last year. It also didn't hurt to have Fred and George trying to persuade Oliver of how much 'utterly amazing natural talent and potential' I had.

We finished tryouts late that night, and the twins and I lounged in the common room for awhile.

"There's no way you won't make it. All the other new Chasers practically fell of their brooms." George said to me.

"Oh I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you two. I mean those two little first year Beaters really gave you guys a run for your money." I teased.

"Please. One of them hit the other guy off his broom just using his bat. The other one was able to hit a ball with his bat, except it was the QUAFFLE." Fred laughed.

"I don't know. I say some potential." I winked.

Two days later I was going back into the Gryffindor common room when I heard a shout, "Congratulations!" It was Fred, who ran up to me and spun me in the air easily," You made the team!"

I laughed with delight and hugged him tight. I didn't realize how long we were hugging until George walked down from the dormitories and coughed loudly. We broke apart abruptly and grinned at each other.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Breaking Rules**

**Here's another chapter. Hope you like it.**

**To my friend 'Toph': Thanks for reviewing! I have a writing addiction now.**

Fred, George, and I sat in the cushy chairs by the fire in the common room on a Friday night. Lee was sitting at a table a few feet away trying to finish his History of Magic essay.

I was sitting at the feet of Fred's chair, as he played with my hair. It was something he did a lot, and it was rather odd. He would just stroke it like a monkey and twirl it on his finger. He did this without saying a word, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

It made my heart flutter ever so slightly when he did this. In fact, my heart fluttered a bit every time he touched me, which he did more and more often. I didn't know what to make of these feelings. I told myself I did not and would not like him. That would just make everything weird.

George was playing with some toy he had gotten over the summer. It was similar to a spinning top but much faster and you had to try to guide it through mini hoops.

Breaking the silence, Ron, Hermione, and Harry burst through the common room entrance. Ron shouted, "Harry is the new Gryffindor Seeker!"

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded, "It's not your place to tell them. Harry should've told them for himself."

The twins and I stifled our laughter at Ron's scolding and his mumbled apology.

We congratulated Harry and I was ecstatic. I had seen him fly and catch Neville Longbottom's Rememberall after Malfoy stole it, and he was a very impressive flyer.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry went to bed after that and Lee soon followed them. Suddenly, George perked up and said, "Well Ms. Coy, it is time we show you something very secret."

I was excited to see this secret thing, but with Fred and George, I was also nervous to see what I was getting myself into.

George left and came back with an intricately detailed cloak. He motioned for me and Fred to step outside of the common room. "Wait," I said, "Won't Filch catch us out of bed?"

"Oh silly girl. We've found a way to get around that little hurtle," Fred smiled mischievously and threw the cloak over the three of us. I thought this was very strange, and I was uncomfortable with being so close to the twins, but George informed me that we were actually invisible under this cloak.

Under the cloak, Fred and George led me through the castle apparently to a secret spot. I was still overcoming the shock of being invisible when we came upon a tapestry. To top off this very strange evening, George began to tickle one of the pears on the tapestry. A door opened and I was led into a room with the most wonderful aromas.

I quickly realized it was the kitchen, as there were house elves all around cleaning up and some still preparing desserts to take home for themselves. We collected all kinds of desserts from the very kind little creatures, like éclairs, crème puffs, and chocolate torte. One particularly small house elf came up to Fred and offered him a pumpkin pastry. I saw him look at her with an almost fatherly kindness. My heart fluttered again at the sight.

Back at the common room, we gorged on the desserts until the late hours of the night.

"You know, Ami," Fred said stuffing his face with a crème puff," I think we've become a bad influence on you. I mean sneaking out, taking food from the kitchen, staying up late. What would your dear aunt say?"

"She'd probably lock me up in the tallest tower with no human contact forever and forever. Or at least until the end of my adolescence." I described theatrically.

To tell the truth, I liked doing all these 'bad' things. I wasn't sure if it was because I got to do it all with Fred and George, or because I liked the thrill of breaking the rules. Probably both.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Bludgers and Quaffles and Water Balloons  
**

Today was the day of my first real Quidditch match. We were versing Slytherin. Fun.

My stomach was pretty much having a butterfly dance party, but I tried not to show it around the twins. I ate my breakfast in the Great Hall quietly and calmly. I simply grinned and shook my head when George asked if I was nervous. But I noticed Fred staring at me questionably after that. It was weird to think of how he seemed to know what I was thinking.

I changed into my Quidditch uniform in the locker room with the rest of my teammates. Oliver gave us a speech before we went out onto the pitch, but to be honest, I wasn't listening. I was trying to block out the sound of the roaring crowd that I could hear already.

I was glad Harry was there because it was his first game too, and it was obvious he was equally as nervous.

Before I knew it, I was on my broom in my starting position, as Madam Hooch was putting the whistle in her mouth. Gryffindor got the ball first, and Angelina passed it to me, and I swerved around the Slytherin Chasers and passed it to Katie, who was near the goal posts. She scored the first 10 points.

I scored the next 10 points for Gryffindor, but Slytherin came back and we were soon losing 60-20. I felt a Bludger fly by only inches from my face and I heard Fred yelling at the Slytherin Beaters. I smiled to myself, despite my frustration.

It looked like we were going to lose, and things got even worse when I noticed Harry was only hanging on to his broom by his fingertips. There was panic all around as we stopped for a second to watch Harry dangle. A scream escaped my mouth when he fell. I closed my eyes and heard, "HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH." Somehow he had caught it in his mouth and we won the game! The Gryffindor team landed and we all hugged Harry and each other. I turned around to look for Fred and George and saw something bright and pink hurtling toward me. I ducked and a water balloon hit Oliver, who was behind me, right in the face.

I tried to contain my giggling, but that was a lost cause. I looked up to see that the water balloon thrower was none other but Fred. "What was that for?" I demanded.

"Yeah what was that for?" Oliver asked, wiping his wet face with his sleeve.

"Well since I didn't get you with the water balloons the first time I tried, I thought I'd try again." Fred said, with what looked like a blush forming on his pale face.

I said, feeling a tiny blush form on my face as well, "Well you have failed once again."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Next Marauder **

Fred, George, and I were soaking up the sun on a rare warm day in April. It had been 4 months since my first Quidditch match, and the Gryffindor had done very well since then. We had also pulled a few more pranks, and I had discovered what detention with McGongagall, Snape, and Filch felt like. Two words: Pure Torture.

"Hey, apparently our perfect brother Percy was spending a lot of time with a 'Penelope Clearwater' in a secluded corner yesterday." George told us.

Fred laughed,"Oh I am so never going to let that go. He'll definitely be hearing about it until at least next summer."

"Wait, how did you hear about that? Did someone tell you or something?" I asked. I really found it surprising that they heard about something that took place in a 'secluded corner.' Fred and George looked at each other knowingly. They did this sometimes, and it annoyed the heck out of me.

"I guess it's time we tell the girl." Fred said with his mischievous smile that I hate. At least I told myself I hated it, but the fluttering of my heart told a different story.

"Alright then." George said and pulled out a piece of blank parchment. He tapped it with his wand and spoke the words, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," and I learned the story of the Marauder's Map. It showed everyone's currently location in the Hogwarts castle. It also had several secret exits that Fred and George have used.

This opened the doors to many bigger and better pranks, especially since I was now involved in their pranking. I mean- it was clear to all of us that I added a sense of intelligence to their pranks.

It secretly made me happy to now that the twins would entrust me with the Marauder's Map. We had known each other for almost 8 months known, but it felt like I had known them my whole life.

I was getting better at not having one of my stomach butterfly dance parties whenever Fred touched me lately. But that didn't mean that the initial feelings weren't there.

The 14 year old boy tucked a strand of my red hair behind my ear. I just smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Lair**

Hermione was reading a book aloud to me about werewolf bites that we had gotten from the library that morning. We were studying for Defense against the Dark Arts, which was a fun class but I desperately wanted to give the professor a lesson or two in public speaking.

Studying wasn't an excruciatingly horrible ordeal for me, as it was for Fred and George; I almost enjoyed it. Hermione and I usually studied early in the morning and then I studied by myself after hours in the dormitories. This way I could have time to spend with Fred and George.

I heard a voice, "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"

It was George, who was staring down at our books in surprise.

"Studying. You should try it sometime," I retorted. I was always on the twins' case that they should study more.

"You know I can't, studying is bad for my health. And I'm allergic to textbooks."

I rolled my eyes, "Where's Fred?"

"He has detention with Filch for punting Mrs. Norris. Why? I am not good enough for you then?"

A smile crept up upon my face, "Oh Georgie, you know you are and always will be my favorite."

I wondered if he knew this wasn't true. The look on his face said he did.

"_Alohomora" _I said, pointing my wand at the window to Filch's, the cat-obsessed Hogwarts caretaker, office. I climbed through the window and saw Fred sitting at the desk which he had carved his name into the year before. "Afternoon, prisoner." I nodded to him.

"Come to break me out?" he asked.

"Oh please, if you can't do the time, then don't do the crime, Weasley." I said sitting on top of the desk next to him. "I'm just here to hopefully make your time in Filch's lair more pleasurable."

I prayed that he didn't hear my heart pound- It was a risk coming here. What if he thought I was this creepy first year who always follows him around?

But he looked happy to see me, "Brilliant," he had said.

Spending the rest of Fred's three hour detention in Filch's room with him was probably the best day I had had at Hogwarts yet. All we did was talk. We talked about our family, our past, our dreams, and at one point, our most disgusting experience with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Mine was hard-boiled egg, and his was belly button lint.

I left a few minutes before Filch was supposed to come back and release Fred. I congratulated myself on keeping cool with him as I climbed out the window. I tried to slow my rapid heart rate down before I went back in to the castle.

What I didn't know was that Fred was doing the same thing back in Filch's lair.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Sorcerer's Stone and The Twins' Goodbye**

**If you like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Go read FireLady001's "TOKO" stories! They're really good!**

My first year at Hogwarts was almost over, and I was now 13 years old. Something had been going on with Ron, Hermione, and Harry. They kept whispering to each other and taking WAY too many trips to the library.

I hated nosy people, so I didn't ask what they were up to. But I did miss Hermione as my study buddy, since finals were only a couple weeks away.

I was helping Fred and George study for their History of Magic final. Actually, I was trying to teach them all the History of Magic they were supposed to learn this year that they hadn't bothered to even look at.

That was the last moment I fully remembered. The next weeks went by faster than I could say "hippogriff."

First, the Gryffindor Quidditch team went to the championship match against Ravenclaw. Harry had disappeared, so we lost horribly.

Hermione told me the story of Harry defeating Voldemort and finding the Sorcerer's Stone, to the dismay of Ron who thought the story should be "top secret." To no fault of mine, though, the whole school knew different versions of the story by the term feast.

At the term feast, Slytherin had won the House Cup. I was only a bit angry though, because a lot (about 80%) of the points Gryffindor lost were due to combined efforts by the twins and I and Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

But still- the look on Draco Malfoy's face made my blood boil to no end.

However, in a turn of events, Dumbledore gave 170 points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville Longbottom and we won the House Cup!

We were to head home the next day. Hermione and I packed glumly and listened to Lavender and Parvarti talk animatedly about what they were going to do over the summer. I whispered to Hermione that I had put a bunch of opened Chocolate Frogs in the clothes they had packed in their trunks.

I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to wait a whole summer before I saw Hermione, Ron, Harry, and most of all Fred and George again. They had become my second family. I didn't want to leave.

After playing Exploding Snap with Fred, George, and Lee on the Hogwarts Express for a few hours, we arrived at King's Cross Station. I saw my aunt Tara talking to a plump redheaded woman and her husband. I told Fred and George that that was my aunt, and they said that the woman was their mother.

Tara and I spent quite a while talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They were lovely people, and I don't often use the word 'lovely.'

Fred and George pulled their father aside at one point, and then they pulled me aside.

"We were wondering," Fred said, "If you would want to visit at the end of the summer. You could stay for the last week of August, and we could go to Diagon Alley and get our supplies together."

I looked at my two best friends and said, "I'll think about it."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Midnight Drive**

"Come on, wake up," Fred said, nudging me awake. I groaned and rolled over seeing the clock that said it was 1 am.

"Shh. You'll wake Ginny," George said. I had been rooming with Ginny for the past few days since I was staying at the Weasley's for the last part of summer.

I slipped on some sweats and followed Fred and George outside. Ron was there standing by their father's Ford Anglia car. Our plan was to fly in the car to Harry, who was at his Muggle aunt and uncle's house, and 'rescue' him from that tortuous life for the rest of the summer.

I was in Ireland with Tara during the other part of my summer. I had written to my friends almost the entire time though, and it was nice to finally see them again.

I also had met Fred and George's little sister, Ginny. She was a sweet, but quiet girl, who had a picture of Harry on her wall strangely enough. She was to start at Hogwarts this year.

We arrived at the window of Harry's room using an invisibility feature that came with the flying car. George was a terrible driver, so I was a bit nauseous by the time Ron was breaking the lock on Harry's window.

Harry seemed extremely relieved to see us. I felt sorry for the poor boy, having to spend a whole summer with magic-hating Muggles. Harry squeezed into our flying car just as I saw a large walrus-like man running towards the window. He was screaming at Harry like a sick banshee.

"You live with that _thing?"_ I asked Harry in disgust.

"Don't remind me," was all he said.

We walked through the back door of the Burrow (the Weasley's house) in the early hours of the morning. Fred and George seemed nervous as they tiptoed through their own house, but I had no idea why.

I found out why seven seconds later.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Mrs. Weasley screeched.

My face turned red as she lectured us loudly about the severity of what we had done. But she looked at me and Harry, "And you dragged these poor dears along with you. They could've been hurt! I'm truly sorry, Ami and Harry, for my sons' serious lack of judgment." She said to us.

Ron looked at us with annoyance, George stuck his tongue out, and Fred elbowed me softly in the ribs. I replied with a smug look. Mrs. Weasley loved me, and incorrectly thought I was this angel child.

The five of us, and Percy who had just woken up, ate breakfast in silence. Fred and George both passed their turnips onto my plate, since I loved them and they passionately despised them.

Ginny came downstairs not too long after. She started asking her mother something, but she took one look at Harry Potter and froze like a statue.

"Something wrong, Gin?" George asked and touched her forehead, "Oh gee, looks like you have a bad case of Harrypotteritis."

Her face turned red as she ran upstairs, and the boys laughed. I did not think this was funny; Harry and Ginny would be cute together.

And one of my greatest plans ever was formed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ch. 11: Lovely Lockhart**

"Ok children, here is your supply lists. Meet back at Flourish and Blotts when you've finished. I hear Gilderoy Lockhart will be there for a book signing." Mrs. Weasley said to us giddily once we had gotten to Diagon Alley.

I'll admit it: I love shopping. Fred and George made it seem like it was almost painful, so I took their lists and helped them find everything.

The last thing on our list was new robes for Fred and George. They had both grown at least three inches over the summer, and now were at least a head and a half taller than me.

At Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, I looked around as Fred and George were being fitted. I heard a high pitched, "Ow!" and saw that Madam Malkin had accidently stuck a pin in George's bum. I was laughing so hard it hurt, and so was Fred, but when he laughed a pin stabbed his stomach. I was practically in stiches-no pun intended.

We fell silent as I noticed a pompous looking blond boy and his mother walk in the story. "Good afternoon Mrs. Malfoy," said Madam Malkin.

"Draco, honey, are these your friends from school? I certainly hope not, based on their poor attire and wild attitude." Mrs. Malfoy said, looking at us with disgust.

"Of course not, Mother." Draco said sneering.

"Oh Draco, darling, why lie to your mum? You see," I said looking at Draco's mother," Draco and I are the bestest of friends. We share everything- secrets, food, and even sometimes we share each other's makeup! Your son has excellent taste in blush." I spit dramatically on the ground in front of her, "Oh, excuse me."

Mrs. Malfoy looked at me in horror, and I grabbed Fred and George, who had finally had their robes fitted perfectly, and ran out quickly.

"That was brilliant!" George exclaimed.

"I try." I said, pleased with myself, as we walked into Flourish and Blotts. The Weasleys, as well as Harry and Hermione, were standing in a long line of people. At the end of the line of people, I saw a man who was smiling way too much and wearing way too much hair gel.

I hugged Hermione and she said, "That's Gilderoy Lockhart. He's a famous author."

Mrs. Weasley said, "Isn't her dreamy?"

All the Weasley boys said, "MUM!"

I personally thought the man seemed a bit conceited and fake, but I went along with it and had my book signed.

When Hermione asked if she could have a picture with him, Lockhart said, "Oh my dear girl, if I took pictures with everybody, I would be here til Christmas! I just have too many adoring fans."

Suddenly, Lockhart spotted Harry with us. He exclaimed, "Harry Potter! The boy who lived! I can't believe my eyes- Harry Potter is waiting in line to meet me! This will be one for the headlines."

He called a photographer over to take their picture. "With us together," Lockhart said," We surely will make the cover of the Daily Prophet!"

And the camera flashed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Warm Welcome**

The sound of the Hogwarts Express' train whistle was music to my ears. I said good-bye to the Weasleys and thanked them for their hospitality (Fred and George laughed at me for being so formal).

We met up with Lee in an empty compartment on the train. I watched the boys exchange Chocolate Frog cards and stuff their faces with candy from the trolley witch. I didn't join in. I was too busy trying to keep my face from heating up due to the fact that there was approximately half a centimeter between Fred and I.

I later cursed myself for acting like this. For all I knew, Fred felt nothing towards me besides thinking of me as a friend. A second-year friend. I told myself I should enjoy my time with my friends, not worry about Fred and romance and yadda-yadda. And that was that. No more worrying or freaking out or butterflies. I vowed I would not like Fred anymore. Not like that.

"Ron's got a Howler!" someone yelled at breakfast. We all turned our heads over to Ron, who was holding a red card.

We knew what it was about: Ron and Harry weren't able to get through the portal at King's Cross so they using the Ford Anglia to fly to Hogwarts. Ron's mother probably sent the Howler to scold him.

Ron tentatively opened the card and my predictions were correct. Mrs. Weasley's voice gave Ron a very long, very embarrassing lecture. It was probably one of the most funniest things I had seen in my lifetime. In the back of my mind, though, I felt bad for Ron since he was my friend and I was positive that Malfoy and the other Slytherins would tease him about this. If that did happen, I would be ready to pound and/or humiliate some Slytherin scum.

I took a seat next to Hermione in the Potions classroom that morning. Or should I say Potions dungeon. Just our luck, Professor Snape was in a record high temper. He insulted Hermione for giving a correct answer, made Neville drink his own failed potion (He became covered in warts on his hands and feet), and that wasn't even half of it.

Snape was walking by my shared table with Ron, Hermione, and Harry, examining our potions. Hermione, Harry, and I were at the same stages of our potions. Hermione's was a slightly darker purple than mine and Harry's was a bright blue color. Snape stopped at my potion, which I thought was fairly decent except for the fact that I used a hair too much bezoar.

Snape addressed the class and said, "Now let us all take the time to see Miss Coy's potion. You see, she did not use the correct amount in milligrams for some of her ingredients. Because of that foolish and childish mistake, she has ruined her entire potion." He picked up my almost finished concoction and dumped it. "Let you students take this as an example of how small mistakes can contribute to a larger failure."

I glared at Snape with hatred. My potion was near-perfect and now I had received a zero for an absolutely ridiculous reason. What I did next was probably rash, but I did not regret it.

"Well if we got rid of everything with even the tiniest mistake, you Professor would've been thrown out as soon as you exited your mother's womb. But I thank you for finally giving meaning to the phrase, 'A face only a mother could love.'"

Snape's nostrils flared, but I wasn't finished. "And I guess my tiny mistake is still worse than Malfoy's cauldron of vomit over there," Everyone looked at Malfoy's potion-which was bubbling and a bright pink color. "But no! You wouldn't throw Malfoy's potion out because he's your little puppy dog. I wouldn't be surprised if you two joined for tea and crumpets on Sunday mornings!"

Some people were laughing, but most were staring at me with shock. Snape spoke in the most frighteningly cold way, "Miss Coy, you are to report straight to Mr. Filch's office-

"Filch? Why not Dumbledore?" I asked bluntly.

He ignored my comment, "and wait for me to give you your punishment after class. Though, I must say, I'm not surprised from someone of your _background_." He said the last part only loud enough for me to hear.

"Go ahead and say it. _Blood traitor_. You've already proven yourself as an unprofessional, biased teacher.

He only sneered at me, and I walked out calmly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: A Big Splash**

I found out that my punishment was eight Saturday and Sunday detentions with Snape and Filch, as well as seventy-five points from Gryffindor. I was lucky that my detentions only cut in to two Quidditch practices (Oliver informed me I would be on the team as a Chaser again). I was also lucky that it seemed like no other teachers knew of my outburst, probably because the coward Snape didn't want them to know how prejudiced and cruel he was to some of his students.

I came back to the Gryffindor common room after my first three hour torture session with Snape. Fred and George, who were both very proud of my comments to Snape, were waiting for me. The three of us sat around the fireplace planning pranks and tricks. Most of these we didn't use; it was just entertaining to think of them.

I was trying to figure out the best angle for dropping exploding confetti near the Ravenclaw tower. I couldn't seem to get it right on our drawing, so Fred grabbed my hand and guided it to where he thought it would work. I had gotten better at not reacting to something like this, so I simply nodded to Fred. My plan to not freak out around Fred was working: We were all just really great friends now and it was great. I liked it like this.

But Fred continued to look at me, almost expectedly.

Suddenly, there was a loud chatter of voices. Seamus Finnigan said to us, "Come on! Mrs. Norris has been petrified!"

We ran out to a hallway near the girls' bathroom where Mrs. Norris, Filch's beloved cat, was standing, magically petrified. On the wall next to the cat, "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE," was written in what looked like blood. There was panic as Dumbledore and the other teachers came to the scene. I learned from a few students that the Chamber of Secrets was made by Salazar Slytherin, the Slytherin founder, and 50 years ago it was supposedly opened and a girl died.

The teachers eventually ushered us back to our dorms. I did not care for Filch's cat, but I had the strangest feeling that something horrible was coming to Hogwarts, and that this was not the first incident to come.

Things quieted down about a week after the incident with Mrs. Norris, who was spending her time in the hospital wing. Fred had been acting weird lately though. I saw him whispering to Fred a lot, and he rarely looked me in the eyes. But instead he would put his arm around me, or touch my hand or face.

He was being...awkward. Just awkward. The whole point of me not liking him was to prevent things from being awkward, but he was certainly not helping my cause.

That Saturday I woke up in a bad mood. My head hurt, my throat was scratchy, and all I wanted to do was do absolutely nothing. However, I toughed it out and went to breakfast with Hermione, because the twins had already eaten.

After breakfast I felt no better. Hermione left to meet Ron and Harry, and I was walking alone through the halls. I didn't go directly back to the common room; I felt like taking a walk to see if I might feel any better.

Some of the portraits in the hall waved to me. One of them, a painting of two ladies at tea, asked me, "Are you Ami Coy?" I said I was and then the two ladies giggled. I walked away confused.

I finally decided I would go back to the dormitories and take a nap when I saw a bright green flash. Even though I was sick, my amazing instincts were still sharp. I ducked and whatever the green thing was hit the wall behind me. The contents of the green thing were gold sparkles, which started moving. They seemed to be forming letters. Will…..you…be…my…girl….friend….question mark.

I started at the letters trying to comprehend them, before I turned around and saw Fred with a yellow sunflower in his hand.

I just looked at him, still not getting what was going on. Once I regained my composure I said what was really on my mind:

"You asked me out by throwing a water balloon at me?!"

Fred grinned sheepishly and began to say, "Well I-

I threw my arms around him before he finished. "Yes." I whispered softly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Different Dialects**

I didn't have time to dwell on Fred becoming my boyfriend. It just happened. I probably could say it was unexpected, I should have seen the signs, et cetera. But it all just seemed so fast and yet so natural.

Roughly the entire school knew of the Weasley fourth year dating the pretty second year girl by dinner. There were about twenty two different scenarios they came up with as far as how Fred had asked me. However, most of the reason that everyone knew was because of the event at lunch:

I had suddenly felt much better as Fred and I walked together, his arm around my waist. I doubted that we would go through that 'awkward phase' in dating, since we already were so close and knew each other pretty well.

We didn't really discuss much about the whole dating thing as we walked around the castle; we talked like we did just as we had on a day like this so many times before. Eventually we made our way to the Great Hall at around noon. Fred had stiffened as we got closer to the entrance. I looked at him quizzically and opened the doors.

"YA! GO FRED AND AMI!" George stood up and shouted. All of the eyes in the Great Hall were on us now. I laughed nervously and hid my face behind Fred's arm. He just rolled his eyes and dragged me along to the table.

A few people had clapped or cheered. Some looked disgusting, and others, mainly the Slytherins, looked horribly annoyed.

I cursed George when I sat down, who responded with ruffling my hair. My friends at the table-Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Lee, and Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas- congratulated us.

At that time I took a moment to…enjoy it all. This was perfect: Me with my friends around, Fred's arm around me, and laughter and smiles everywhere. I made a wish at that moment that the rest of my life would be exactly or close to exactly like this.

Gilderoy Lockhart was our new Defense against the Dark Arts professor, since Quirrel last year had turned into Lord Voldemort. Parvarti and Lavender thought this was an amazing change in staff, no surprise there.

Lockhart was having us practice dueling. I tend to zone out his words and this time was no exception. I watched Harry and Draco duel uninterestedly until Draco conjured a snake which began to attack a Hufflepuff boy. Harry approached the snake and started chanting. It didn't sound like a normal spell, it was more alien. I didn't think much of it until some students whispered, "He's a Parselmouth!" I hadn't heard much about Parselmouth and Parseltongue, but I knew it was snake language, and it was sometimes known as the language of Voldemort and Salazar Slytherin.

Many people back at the common room were casting dark looks at Harry and were whispering frantically. I hated people who did that- talking behind people's back was my biggest pet peeve. If you have something wrong with someone, say it to their face or don't say anything at all. Only cowards talk about others without them knowing. And yes, I realize it seems like I've done that to Ron, but believe me, I say worse to his face.

Fred and George were in detention, so I was sitting with Harry and Ron and Hermione. Harry looked depressed despite our efforts to cheer him up. As things became more and more awkward in the common room, the four of us decided to sit in the library.

When we approached the library, none other than the Hufflepuff boy who was almost attacked by the snake came out. His name was Justin Finch-Fletchy. His eyes widened and he backed away once he saw Harry. He acted like this because, like the others, believed that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin who had opened the Chamber of Secrets. How stupid could people be?

Harry looked uncomfortable, so I walked up to Justin, "Listen Fletchy, Harry is not the Heir Slytherin nor did he open the Chamber of Secrets! Now you and your little Hufflepuff friends need to shut up and get a grip, and make sure that Harry Potter's name does not come out of your little mouth. Have I made myself clear?

The poor boy was shaking like a leaf now and he just nodded and ran away.

My three friends were looking at me with their mouths open. "Well, now that we've got that settled," I said with a grin and went into the library.

Justin Finch-Fletchy came up to me after breakfast. "Got something to say, Fletchy?" I asked him.

He didn't look as nervous now; in fact, he looked confident. "I just wanted to know why you talk funny." He said bluntly.

"What?! How do I talk funny?"

"Your accent. It's different."

I knew what he was talking about know. After living in America for so long, I had developed kind of American accent. I didn't notice, but I'd been told before.

"Are you that naïve?" I asked him. "I have a different accent. Because I lived in a different country. Have you never heard anything besides a British accent? May I ask where you've been your whole life? Because I have never known anyone so stupid and so blind to the world. So ya'll better get a move on, partner, before I kick ya where the sun don't shine." I said the last sentence with the most horrible, over exaggerated country western accent ever.

Justin backed away from me, looking scared again.

Bless his heart.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Hogsmeade **

"Ready, Miss Coy?" Fred asked in a posh voice, holding his arm out.

"I am ready, Mr. Weasley," I responded punching his arm before taking it.

Today, December 12th, was the day of our first date in Hogsmeade. Technically, I wasn't supposed to go to Hogsmeade until next year, but there was a secret exit on the Marauder's Map that went straight into the small village.

This morning I woke up nervous. I worried for seven and half minutes about what I should wear. At the eighth minute, I gave up and put on a white t-shirt, jeans, and a Gryffindor scarf. I knew I was being completely stupid- Fred, my Fred, wouldn't give a darn about what I wore. By the time I left to meet Fred at a certain spot in the hallway, I was not nervous, only excited.

We went behind a statue of a witch, through a tunnel, and to a cellar in a Hogsmeade store. Conveniently, it was a joke store: Zonko's Joke Shop. Fred and I wandered through there for a while. We each found some goods, but Fred persisted in buying everything for me. I thought that was the stupidest thing I ever heard- and I refused to get anything if he paid.

We eventually left the store, me having bought all my own items except for a few Sugar Quills from Fred.

We walked down the quaint streets of Hogsmeade and I knew right away that I loved this village. Even in the cold, it was warm and inviting and absolutely adorable. The snow started to fall, making Hogsmeade seem even prettier.

Fred suddenly grabbed me and pulled me down a small alley between two stores. "What was that for?" I demanded.

"Oh sorry love, just saw McGonagall and Flitwick walking our way."

I nodded. Right, I had forgotten that I wasn't supposed to be in this beautiful town….

We went into a crowded bar called the Three Broomsticks, which smelled of vanilla and beer, but was very warm inside. Fred and I sat at a table by ourselves, and he ordered me a butterbeer. I thought it was funny how gentleman-like he was being, since it contrasted his usual carefree personality. I figured this was going to be that 'awkward phase,' where we weren't sure how to act around each other in a date situation. During my thought process, I noticed Fred looking at me, amused.

He said, "You're overthinking this aren't you? And now probably telling yourself not to overthink." Fred put his arm around me, "It's okay, just relax."

I looked at him, annoyed that he read me so easily. "Well you're the one acting so nice and generous and gentleman-y! Why don't you '_relax'_ and just be yourself?!" I was probably being too mean to him, but some things, like when people are right about things I wish they weren't right about, really annoy the heck out of me.

"I am being myself! And I, Fred Weasley, like to be nice and generous and _gentleman-y _to my dates."

I huffed angrily as the bartender put our butterbeers on the table. Fred picked up a butterbeer and gave it to me, "Here drink this."

Rolling my eyes I took a sip. I didn't want to admit that it was absolutely delicious, "It's pretty good," was all I said. Fred smiled at me knowingly, and I gave up my irritated attitude.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm being a jerk… The drink is really delicious."

"It's alright, love, we all have jerk-ish moments." Fred said to me. I punched his arm playfully and called him a jerk.

We clinked our glasses together and sat for a while, enjoying the butterbeer. "Fred?" I asked after some time, "Do you think I…talk funny?"

He laughed, "Just because you talk different doesn't mean you talk funny. I like your accent. It makes you...Ami."

I grinned at him. "Amy with an 'I'."

"Precisely."

Fred and I strolled back to the castle, and the snow was falling harder. Before we exited Hogsmeade, Fred stopped me. "Today was…brilliant." He said to me.

"Ya, it was. Thank you." I said pulling him closer to me.

He leaned down- quite a long way down actually since I was so much shorter than- and lightly kissed my cheek.

It was a kiss. A little, tiny, soft, baby kiss. I hadn't stopped smiling.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Gone**

May came by faster than a blink of an eye. It was the first time the sun had shined since October, and Hermione and I were sitting by the lake watching the giant squid frolic and splash. It was nice to have some girl time with Hermione once in a while, and I could tell she agreed.

Hermione said to me, "Ami are you ever going to go on a second date with Fred? It's been a few months." Hermione didn't approve of my last Hogsmeade trip with Fred, seeing how it was against the rules. "I'm not sure," I responded, "We have no reason to. We already see each other every day."

"Well don't you think the dates are more special?"

"Not really. We do the same thing on dates as we do on any other day."

"Whatever you say." Hermione said rolling her eyes.

I brought up the topic of a second date to Fred. He seemed eager about it, so we made plans for the next Saturday.

We did not go on a second date.

I felt like crying as I followed Harry and Ron to the hospital wing. I bit my lip even harder to prevent the tears as I saw her lying on the bed, frozen as a statue. Hermione had been petrified by whatever had been 'released' from the Chamber of Secrets. She was one of many other students who had been petrified over the last few months. They included Penelope Clearwater, Colin Creevy, and Justin Finch- Fletchey.

I was told a cure was supposed to be ready soon. _Soon_ basically met two to four weeks. That was one week too many for me to not see Hermione.

After Hermione was petrified, no one felt like even walking through the castle at risk of being petrified, so Fred and I didn't go on our date.

I visited Hermione every few days. Sometimes I would talk to her, which was comforting. Harry and Ron were in no better state. Something was going on with them as well; they were always whispering again and had worried looks on their faces.

I figured life would get better and happier over the next few weeks. It did not.

Fred, George, and I followed the crowd of people to the same spot in the castle where Mrs. Norris had been petrified. On that same wall was the message: "HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER."

Ginny had been taken. She was gone. She might never come back.

I didn't dare look at Fred and George's faces. The Professors made us go back to the dormitories. They also told us to pack- Hogwarts was closing due to the incidents. I can't describe how I felt during this time. I was just numb.

Fred pulled me close to him protectively while we were walking. I wondered what he was thinking and how he was coping. His sister had just been kidnapped, so he couldn't be doing very well.

All students were prepared to leave the next morning, but we received news that the Weasleys needed to meet in McGonagall's office. I hugged my friends silently.

"I'll write to you as soon as we know what's going on." Fred told me.

"I know." I said and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good Luck."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Good News and Bad News**

My aunt picked me up at King's Cross and we left for our home in Brighton, England. I didn't pay attention to my aunt and her questions about how school had been. All that was on my mind was Ginny, and Fred and George and Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. I knew I would be waiting anxiously until my first letter from Fred arrived.

Tara knew only that a girl had been kidnapped from Hogwarts, and that's why we left early. I filled her in on some of the details, and she narrowed in her eyes in that way she does. Tara was fun and less uptight than my father had been, but she can go into this battle mode, where her brain becomes a ruthless powerful weapon and all she cares about is her target. Because of this, she was very powerful in the First Wizarding War.

My letter from Fred arrived only two days later. Harry had saved Ginny, and it was Voldemort who had opened the Chamber, somehow (He didn't know the details on that part). The Weasleys and Harry returned to their homes yesterday.

At the end of the letter, Fred asked again if I would like to stay with them for the last few weeks of summer.

I asked Tara about this. She seemed skeptical, which was odd since she let me go in a heartbeat last year and our vacation in France would only go to July. My aunt said to me, "You seem to be spending a lot of time with this _boy. _Don't you have any girl friends?"

I realized that I hadn't told her yet about Fred and I as a couple. "Well yes I do," I said hesitantly, "but Fred is my boyfriend now so-"

"What?! When did this happen?" She didn't wait for an answer. "And you didn't bother to write or ask me or anything?!"

It was odd to see her this angry. Tara usually didn't care about stuff like this. "Why does it matter? I didn't think you would've been this angry. Fred is a nice boy." I said.

"I'm not worried about whether he is nice or not. I'm worried about the fact that you're only 14!"

I considered that for a moment. This was true: I was 14, and Fred was 15. It was a young age to be as serious as we are. But I had never felt too much like a child or too immature when I was with him.

I whispered, "So now what then? Do I have to stop dating him? You know I won't do that." I added the last part because we both knew it was true.

"Yes I know," she said, softer now, "I'm not going to make you do that. I just don't want to seem like a bad guardian for letting you get into this."

We were quiet for a moment before Tara said, "Personally I don't see anything wrong with you two dating. It just seems like something your mother would worry about."

I understood why she was acting like this now. Tara had struggled with this for almost eleven years. She worried whether she was a good enough mother to me, since my real mother had died. My father always thought of her as too irresponsible, and Tara sometimes wondered if he was right.

To me, Tara was an amazing mother.

I hugged her and said, "You don't need to be just like my mom or dad. You're Tara. And I'm me because of you. I thank you for that."

"I love you," we said to each other.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Owl Post**

"Happy Birthday, Harry," I wrote on a small card. I licked the edges of the envelope and slipped the letter and some Whiz Pops and Every Flavour Beans inside. I set the package on my desk so Tara's owl could send it once he got back from her hunt. Next to it lay the letters I had received over the summer. Most of them were from Fred or Hermione. Also in that pile was a picture of the Weasley family in Egypt. Mr. Weasley had won a prize and seven hundred galleons, so they took a vacation in Egypt. I always laughed when I saw that picture, because Fred, George, and Ron were all wearing the most ridiculous turbans.

Tara's owl, Vincent, came by in the late afternoon, took my letter, and dropped off two more for me.

One of the letters was from Hermione. Hermione had been in Paris all summer with her family, who were Muggles. She told me that she would be in Diagon Alley while we were there next week. Hermione also asked in her letter if I had heard anything about the prison break in Azkaban. I had- Sirius Black, a notorious killer and follower of Voldemort, had broken out of the most highly guarded prison in the Wizarding World.

The other letter was from Fred. He told me they were back from Egypt, and he also described more of their trip. They visited his brother, Bill, and other ancient Wizarding sites. He said that he and George had 'accidently' set a 10,000 year old scroll on fire. Fred wrote at the end that he was looking forward to seeing me.

I decided not to write back to either letter, since I would see both Fred and Hermione in the next few days.

I stuffed a few Dung Bombs at the top of my trunk, finally finishing packing. I was meeting the Weasleys in the Leaky Cauldron this afternoon.

Tara hugged me as I took some Floo Powder in my hand. "The Leaky Cauldron," I said, then grinned at Tara and threw the powder on the ground. I was immediately transported into the old tavern, barely taking in my surroundings before I saw a flash of red and felt someone squeezing me tightly. "Mum! Ami's here!" George shouted as he let go of me. Ron, Fred, and Percy came over. I hugged Ron tightly, who blushed, and I shook Percy's hand as he said to me, "It is excellent to see you again, Amelia."

Fred just hugged me, which I understood since his parents were now coming over. Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh Ami, dear, wonderful to see you!"

"Thank you for having me." I said brightly.

"So polite," I heard Mrs. Weasley whisper to her husband as they walked away.

Harry and Hermione arrived the next day, and I discovered that Percy had been made Head Boy at Hogwarts this year. Percy showed me his badge proudly, but I had to stifle my laughter immediately. Fred and George looked at me knowingly.

The badge now read, "Bighead Boy."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Amy With An 'I'**

I watched as the England countryside blew by us on the way to Hogwarts. There was something eerie on the Hogwarts Express that day, but I didn't know what it was. Fred and George seemed to notice it too; we were all tense as we sat with Angelina and Katie on the train.

Fred's hand rested on mine. He bounced his knee up and down like he did when he was nervous. Lately I had begun to notice things about Fred, like the bouncing knee, that I hadn't seen before. His hair was more orange in the light, his eyelashes were really long, and his lip twitched ever so slightly when he was lying.

I blew my hair out of my face. I had gotten bangs this summer, and they annoyed me like no other. I then looked out the window. Wait- the _frozen _window. It was only September, how could the window be freezing over? The others had noticed it too, and Katie started shivering.

George got up, "I better see what's going on." But as he slid the door open and peeked his head out the window, he immediately jumped back. My heart almost beat out of my chest as George told us he had seen something coming down the train. We all froze and watched what Fred had seen pass by our space. It was tall, black, and ghostly. My head felt dizzy as the figure came closer. I found it became difficult to breath, and I saw black spots.

Katie made a small noise and Angelina whispered, "Dementor."

Dementors were dark creatures that guarded Azkaban. I had heard that they could literally suck the happiness out of people.

The five of us stayed frozen until the dementor was completely out of sight.

"Do you think this is all about Sirius Black? Do you think he might be on the train?" Katie asked nervously.

No one responded.

Katie had partly right. The dementors would be staying at Hogwarts for protection in case psycho Sirius Black came by. Dumbledore did not seem to like this idea. Neither did I.

This year I would be taking Divination, Ancient Runes, Arthimancy, and Care of Magical Creatures. Only a few less than Hermione, who I swear is going to explode after taking all those classes.

Care of Magical Creatures was quite fun. Hagrid seemed to like me, (He said, "A frien' of 'arry is a frien' a mine.") and he was a very easy teacher. Ancient Runes and Arthimancy went well. Hermione and I were one of the few Gryffindors taking those classes. Actually, one of the few students who weren't Ravenclaw. Then came Divination.

Things didn't start well when Professor Trelawney tried to say my name: "A-my Coo," She had said.

"It's A-me C-oy. Like Amy with an 'i.'"

"Dear, I have the Inner Eye, you see. So I'm sure in a past life you were A-my Coo. Yes yes I see it! You were a tiny Indian woman, living a life of hardship and pain. You died an early death, when you froze to death." Trelawney said dramatically.

"I froze to death in India?" I whispered to Hermione.

So from now on in Divination, I was A-my Coo, the Indian lady.

Hermione sat next to me through the rest of Divination. I didn't think anything could be worse detention with Snape, and I am sad to say that I was proved wrong. Trelawney was complete nonsense, predicting horrible deaths for just about every student in the class room. I thought she would make a much better "27- cats lady."

Maybe 28.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Buckbeak and Blondie **

The sun beat down on Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I as we walked through the grounds to Hagrid's hut. I spotted Hagrid rocking back and forth on his toes excitedly. The four of us were the first ones to Care of Magical Creatures class. Other students quickly gathered around as well, Malfoy and his followers being the last of them. He looked irritated.

Hagrid began talking to the class about creatures called hippogriffs. I heard Malfoy behind me grumbling about Hagrid's poor teaching. "You know what, Blondie?" I snapped, turning to face Malfoy. "If you hate this class so much why don't you and your gorilla buddies just leave with your faces still intact?"

Hagrid had stopped talking. Malfoy began to say something to me, but I cut him off, "I'm sorry for the interruption Professor. Please continue." I blew the strand of hair out of my face.

Ron gave me a silent high-five, and Harry grinned at me. I think Hermione was pleased too, but she wouldn't dare interrupt the lesson.

Hagrid concluded his lecture by bringing out a live hippogriff. His name was Buckbeak, and he was absolutely beautiful. The hippogriff was a combination of a horse and a very large eagle. He stomped his eagle-like likes on the ground and glared at us.

Hagrid asked if some of us wanted to 'pet' him. Harry was the first one to try to touch the large creature. Harry had to bow to the hippogriff before petting him, so we were told. Buckbeak seemed to like him, and let Harry pet his head.

Harry and Buckbeak almost immediately became best friends, in a way. Harry even got to ride him, and together they took off into the air for at least three minutes.

It was amazing to see the two flying through the air. We all, excluding Malfoy, applauded Harry as he got off Buckbeak.

True to character, Malfoy stepped up to the hippogriff arrogantly. "He's not that great." Malfoy scoffed to Buckbeak's face. "Now, err Malfoy, ye shouldn' do that." Hagrid began to tell the boy.

Buckbeak started to stomp his feet angrily. "I'm not scared of any giant birds." Malfoy said.

"Malfoy, pull your head out of your arse and shut up!" I growled at him.

Too late. Buckbeak reared on his hind legs and Malfoy instinctively put his arms in front of his face. When Buckbeak brought his legs down, his talons scratched Malfoy's arm.

Malfoy fell to the ground dramatically in pain. He groaned and moaned, clutching his arm. "Someone help me! I've been brutally attacked!" Malfoy groaned.

"Oh shut up Blondie." I said, just loud enough for him to hear. He looked at me, suddenly not in pain, but then immediately went back to his injured state. I rolled my eyes.

Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl, and Crabbe and Goyle helped _cradle_ Malfoy back to the castle. It made me sick, knowing he was just doing this to get Hagrid in trouble.

Hagrid seemed very flustered. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I went up to him. "It isn't your fault. Malfoy was being a stupid git." I proceeded to calling Malfoy several more harsh words.

"No need for the profanity, Ami. But she's right Hagrid, you specifically told Malfoy how to act around Buckbeak and he didn't listen." Hermione said.

Hagrid mumbled a few words before retreating into his hut.

The four of us went back up to the Hogwarts castle. We spotted Malfoy being walked in the hallway, making a big scene of his injured arm.

I pushed past the crowd of people, and elbowed Malfoy in the arm as I walked by him. Right where it hurts.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Tap Dancing Cauldrons**

I thought the worrying about Sirius Black would subside quickly. It did not.

Fred, George, and I followed the other students to the Fat Lady painting, which was at the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. The painting had been cut and slashed the previous night, and the Fat Lady in the painting seemed to think it was Sirius Black. She was quite frazzled, but was relieved to know that her painting would be fixed.

Everyone was on edge. They wondered how Sirius Black got in the castle, and why he was trying to get into the Gryffindor tower. Naturally, the rumors evolved around Harry Potter. I personally thought it was all rubbish. I didn't even think it was Black who had destroyed the painting; it was probably some bored student. So, the twins and I brilliantly decided to lighten the mood with a little prank on my favorite teacher.

"Alright. I'll go in and steal the cauldrons and Ami will charm them, then Fred will put them back into Snape's lair." George explained to us, after we had figured out our next prank.

That afternoon Fred and I waited in an empty classroom for George and Snape's cauldrons. Suddenly, about ten cauldrons appeared in the classroom, and George came in through the door right after. I went to each cauldron one by one and said, "_Tarantallegra." _The cauldrons started to dance and bounce around all over the room until we contained them, and Fred sent them back to Snape's classroom. We waited as Fred followed the cauldrons and locked them up for Snape to find later.

The three of us skipped our last class and waited outside the Potions classroom. I laughed and high-fived the boys when we heard the shouts and screams. The cauldrons probably were dancing all over the room as the students tried to make their potions. It didn't last long though, as we predicted. Snape stopped the dancing after a few minutes.

I pressed my ear against the door. It was quiet, except for footsteps getting louder and louder. My heart almost leaped out of my chest and I grabbed the twins and ran around the corner. I looked back and saw Snape coming out the door, searching for us.

"This is completely unacceptable. Disrupting the classroom environment! Sneaking around the castle in this situation! I am extremely disappointed in the three of you. You should've known better- we have a murderer on the loose and you think a prank like this would be funny?!" McGonagall scolded the twins and I. We had been caught easily after our prank on Snape. I kept my head down. At this point, I wasn't scared of McGonagall, but I was one of her best students and I felt bad for disappointing her. But I in no mean felt bad for disrupting Snape.

We received three weekend's detention, and forty points from Gryffindor. Points meant nothing to me now. I had lost probably a few hundred for Gryffindor by myself over three years.

We left McGonagall's classroom together. Fred kissed my cheek, "Well that was fun."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Stinky Stockings**

I blew my hair out of my face with an irritated puff. "Do we have to?" George and I kept saying to Fred.

"Now now children, it's the Holidays. Time for a little giving if I do say so myself. And I do." Fred said, winking at me. I stuck my tongue out at him, "Well give the boy a lollipop, not the dang Marauder's Map!" George grinned at me, not because I agreed with him, but because he had heard my voice was changing. I don't mean puberty, but after a few years in London, my voice had started to take on that accent in some sentences.

"Harry needs the Map more than we do. 'Specially with good ol' Sirius Black after him." Fred stated.

I personally thought we needed the Map a great deal. It had been a key asset in practically all our tricks. But I did like a challenge, and maybe without the Map we would really be put the test. Alright. Let's just get it over with. But know you're the one to blame when we get caught from now on." I said, still acting annoyed. I was a very proud person, and I rarely let someone get the satisfaction of winning an argument with me.

"Thank you, love. Come along Georgie," said Fred in a singsong voice. George and I followed Fred, who seemed to know where Harry is. He suddenly stopped at a courtyard outside of the castle. George and I figured out why when our keen ears heard the shuffling of feet. The three of us watched the ground, as footsteps were imprinted into the snow, but no feet were there to perform the task. Fred crept slowly behind the footsteps, and leaped into the air, colliding with an invisible object.

The Invisibility Cloak slipped off Harry Potter, and we dragged the poor boy into an empty corner. I watched, biting my tongue, as Fred and George gave Harry the Marauder's Map. I had to sit on my hand as well to keep from snatching the Map out of Harry's hand. "Take good care of it." I said to Harry as we walked away from him. He nodded and I said a bit too harshly, "Merry Christmas."

"Wake up, love." I felt someone nudge me. I didn't care who it was- I slapped their arm and rolled over in my bed. No one woke me up when I was sleeping. No one. "Someone's not a morning person." Fred grumbled.

"Oh really?" I said sarcastically. "Well Happy Christmas to you too, Ami." He said.

I smiled now, "Merry Christmas."

The Weasleys had invited me to stay at their home for Christmas, so on Christmas morning, I could smell the delicious cooking of Mrs. Weasley.

I followed Fred out of my room with Ginny, who was already up, and I greeted George, more cheerfully this time. Mrs. Weasley was still preparing breakfast as the twins and I sat around the Christmas tree and exchanged presents. I received mittens from Mrs. Weasley, a small snow globe from Hermione, candy from Harry, candy from George, and a mini version of a Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team player from Fred. I gave the twins their presents: bunny slippers for George (which he loved) and a large basket of Chocolate Frogs for Fred.

We examined and played with our gifts like little children while Percy and Ginny, who were the only other Weasleys home for Christmas, opened their gifts. The three of us then moved on to our stockings, which were filled with little candies Mr. Weasley had brought from work. George lifted his stocking to his nose, and immediately pushed it away in disgust. "Reeks." He said.

Fred laughed and recited, "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. They'd been worn all week and needed the air." We giggled at Fred's twist on "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

We had a magnificent snowball fight after lunch, leaving me both exhilarated and breathless. I rubbed my cold hands together and argued with Fred and George about who won. George and I definitely beat Fred and Ginny. Hands down.

Fred tried to kiss me before we went inside "Oh no," I said, "Not til you admit that we won!" I pushed him out of the way playfully and ducked inside. Dinner was excellent. The food was warm and delicious, but what I loved most of all was the sense of family around the dinner table. Mr. Weasley sat at the head of the table, and we all passed around the plates of food. I felt completely at home. Mr. Weasley raised his glass, "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas." We all repeated.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Damsels and Dementors**

The dementors had been guarding the castle for a while now. I couldn't say I was used to it, but I was more aware of where they were now. Still, I tried to keep my distance because every time I came even a bit close, I felt like the world would never warm again.

The world really seemed like it would never warm again when it rained for the sixth time in a row. I had nothing against rain, but today I stared gloomily out at the splashes of water that kept falling and falling. Today was our Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.

I sat next to the twins, Angelina and Katie, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We all grumbled about the rain, except for Harry, who had his eyes on a Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang. I was about to nudge Hermione about this, but then I noticed Cho was wearing a Ravenclaw team uniform. Something clicked in my head, and I realized she was the Seeker for Ravenclaw. I then kicked Harry from under the table, and he jumped. I narrowed my eyes at him, and hoped he got the message. A pit formed in my stomach as I worried about Harry getting distracted during the game.

Large raindrops fell on my hair, and on my goggles. I clutched my broomstick tightly and followed my team to the center of the pitch. Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and I grabbed the Quaffle first. For the rest of the game, I didn't see much. I just focused on the large red ball, which most of the time looked very fuzzy to me, and it going through the Ravenclaw hoops.

I noticed Harry coming towards me, followed by Cho. I veered out of the way for them, figuring they had seen the Snitch. But I saw Cho speeding in front of Harry, and Harry almost _politely_ falling behind her. I almost smacked my hand into my face out of irritation. "HARRY, QUIT BEING A GENTLMAN!" Oliver yelled, expressing my thoughts.

When we were up 60-40, I heard a scream. I looked all around, afraid someone had fallen. Cho Chang was screaming because in the stands, a few dementors loomed. Harry shouted, and a silvery light flew towards the dementors.

I was still frozen in air when everyone around me stopped moving and flew to the ground. I looked around wildly, but then realized the game was over. Harry had caught the Snitch.

When I landed, I saw McGonagall pulling Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle across the field angrily. The three boys were wearing long, dark hoods. Dementor costumes.

I kicked my leg out as Malfoy walked by, tripping him on his face. No one saw this, but I did get quite a deal of pleasure out of it.

I then saw Cho walking towards Harry, but I instinctively went in between them and hugged Harry. "Wonderful job, Harry. Now make sure little Ravenclaw over there doesn't get into your head."

Harry just nodded, not seeming to be listening.

Ah, young love.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: It's My Party and I'll Yell If I Want To**

I stretched my arms in my bed on a nice April Sunday. It wasn't just any Sunday, since 15 years ago today I was welcomed into the world. Honestly, I wasn't the type of person to feel like that my birthday was no big deal. I would never be rude about it, but I felt that if I celebrated others' birthdays, they should celebrate mine. I mean, it's an excuse for partying, so why not?

I looked around at the three empty beds near me. "Of course." I thought. They were probably going to surprise me as I went downstairs, or as I came in for breakfast. I rolled my eyes, "How original." I said to myself.

No one was waiting for me down in the common room. And no one just outside the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. I really didn't want to be welcomed as I stepped into the crowded Great Hall, but beggars can't be choosers, you know?

I fixed my hair subconsciously before I went into the Great Hall for breakfast. I almost yelped in shock… at the fact that no one acknowledged my presence. I thought to myself that I probably was sounding like a spoiled brat. It didn't matter if they surprised me or not, as long as today was wonderful and I was with my friends.

I took a seat with Fred, George, and Lee. They said hello to me, their mouths full of food. George reached over to grab another piece of toast, and knocked my juice onto my lap. My face turned hot and I glared at him, but my expression softened when I saw his horrified face. "It's fine Georgie," I told him, and waved my wand to fix the stain. I almost kicked myself when I realized how truly bratty I was being.

When I spent the next ten minutes waiting _patiently _for some recognition of the day of my birth, I came to a conclusion- It's my birthday and I'll be a brat if I want to. "I'll be at the library." I told the twins curtly.

They began to say something, but I had already exited my seat with an irritated spirit.

Hermione was in the library as well. I smiled brightly when she wished me a happy birthday and gave me a book about Greek mythology, which I admittedly was really interested in.

I stayed with Hermione for much of the remainder of the day, partly because I was still angry with the twins. We read in the library, lounged at the lake, and met Ron and Harry at the common room later that evening.

I sat upside down on the couch and flipped through my new book. I heard someone call my name, and looked up to see Katie Bell. She told me that Professor Flitwick was looking for me, and I probably would have detention with Fred and George. Wonderful. Katie said he was at a classroom, which I was unfamiliar with.

I practically stomped like an angry child to the room. The door was locked so I knocked and waited, leaning against the door.

I didn't know then that I was being a complete idiot.

I counted to ten in my head before I knocked again and heard a voice say, "Just a minute." I took out my wand and began fiddling with it in a bored fashion.

Suddenly, my body had stood up straight and was yelling, "_Protego!"_ out of pure instinct. I was covered with the magical shield as about five small items hit the shield and fell to the ground. They were water balloons. Go figure.

I said to no one in particular, "How many times are you going to do this before you give up?"

"About 37 times." Said my boyfriend who came from behind a statue with George.

I looked down at my feet, and smiled stupidly. The water balloons' contents were spelling out "Happy Birthday." Something next to me, a statue I think, exploded into confetti, and fireworks were sent into the air from behind a tapestry. I felt like I was in the middle of the rainbow. They had really put some time into this.

"I'm surprised I didn't see all this coming." I said to them.

"So are we." Fred and George said together, grinning broadly.

I felt a ball of joy swelling in my heart. It was about the size of the water balloons. I ran up to Fred and George and hugged them tightly.

All of my friends were waiting back in the Gryffindor common room, and Lee had set out several desserts and bottles of butterbeer from the kitchen onto a table. The party went on a few hours into the night, ending after the seventh sleeping Gryffindor had complained.

Everyone went in for the night, including George. But Fred and I stayed.

"Well, you're 15 now. What an old lady you have become." Fred said, winking at me and closing the space between us.

"Old lady, huh? I'm still over a year younger than you. That's creepy. And gross." I responded teasingly.

"I know. I should really back off, shouldn't I? Wouldn't want anyone to think I was using a poor little girl like you." Fred's eyes sparkled.

"Yes. You should." I smiled as we leaned into a kiss.

Once we broke apart he said, "Was that too 'gross' for you?"

"Definitely." And I kissed him again.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: The Cup**

"We did it! We're going to the Quidditch Final! We did it!" Oliver ran up to Fred, George, Angelina, and I in the hallway. "Slytherin beat Ravenclaw so we're officially in!"

We shared Oliver's excitement. I was particularly eager to beat those Slytherin scum and take the Quidditch House Cup. But the four of ours excitement fell short when Oliver gave us our practice schedule for the week. The match was two weeks from now, and we had practice every single day in between, alternating from being early in the morning to late at night.

"It's brilliant. Don't you think?" Oliver asked, referring to the practice plan. "I had to pull a few strings with McGonagall, but I was able to get us time at the Quidditch pitch every day. Slytherin will have no chance."

"Ya. 'Brilliant.' That's just the word I was going to use for this-err- _masterpiece_." I said, holding up the piece of paper. Fred and George scoffed, receiving an elbow in the ribs from me and Angelina.

I was now counting the days until the match. Today we had 6 days left, and I have to say, our team looked great.

Divination on the day we had 6 days left was… surprisingly enjoyable.

I sunk into my chair next to Hermione, nonchalantly glancing at the silver ball sitting in front of us and vaguely listening to Professor Trelawney blabber. If I heard her say "the Inner Eye" one more time, I was going to poke her inner eyes out. I scoffed in my seat at another one of Trelawney's predictions, but I sat up straight when I realized I wasn't the only one laughing. Hermione- of all people- next to me had just laughed out loud at a teacher. A teacher. Good Lord, was this an interesting turn of events.

Trelawney instructed us to gaze into the crystal ball and try and see something. Lavender and Parvati across the room looked ever so intently into the glass object. I snorted, "If you see something big and furry in there, Lavender, don't worry. It's just your reflection." I heard several people choke back their laughter as Lavender's eyes threw daggers across the room at me.

Professor Whack job came over to Ron and Harry's table, asking if we had seen anything. She looked into their crystal balls and claimed, once again, that Harry's death was near. At this point, Hermione exploded. She made several rude comments about Divination, to which Trelawney responded: "I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class, my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires. Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane."*

The room was deathly quiet, before Hermione stood up angrily and stormed out of the classroom with her books. "Screw it." I said out loud. "Later guys." And I followed her out of the Divination room for the last time.

0 days left. I knew the game was going to be a rough one, once I saw the dirty looks on every Slytherin I saw. As well as the tripping and the kicking from them as well.

I don't remember breakfast too well. I remember a few pat on the backs from Gryffindor supporters, and a few jeers from Slytherin supporters, but I was trying as hard as I could to listen to what Oliver had to say about the game and keep a conversation going with Fred and George. This was difficult as my mind was somewhere far away on the Quidditch pitch.

Fred kissed my cheek just before we stepped onto the field, having to lean down considerably as he has grown much taller and I have stayed at just above five feet. "Don't let those Slytherin brutes get in your way." He said. "Oh don't worry about that. Just be sure to give them a few Bludgers in the head too."

I saw a sea of red and a patch of green in the stands above the field. People were shouting, "LIONS FOR THE CUP," and at the same time you heard a soft mumur yelling something about Snakes. Lee Jordan was the commentator, and he called our names as we entered: "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Coy, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood!"

And we were off. I had the Quaffle first, and I dodged and weaved through the Slytherin team, quickly scoring the first point for Gryffindor. The crowd roared. I was about to through my fist in the air when I tumbled over. Marcus Flint of Slytherin had knocked straight into me. "Didn't see you." He said. "Oh I see now. The poor quality of your team is due to your horrible eyesight. I'm surprised you can even catch the Quaffle." He was about to retort back when an object- a Beater bat- slammed into him. I glared at Fred, who was empty handed.

Gryffindor and Slytherin both received penalty shots. I scored ours, but the Slytherin Chasers missed theirs. It was 20-0. More penalties on Slytherin lead to use leading 50-10, one of the penalties being for when a large Slytherin beater hit Katie Bell with his club, claiming he thought she was a Bludger. How thick could you get?

Fred hit a Bludger, knocking the Quaffle out of a Chaser's hand, and I swiftly caught it, scoring again. Fred winked as me as I flew by, causing me to roll my eyes.

One more penalty shot for us. Another shot for them. And we scored again. And much cursing from Lee Jordan, who was voicing what we were all thinking about those Slytherin Scumbags. 80-20. If Harry caught the Snitch now, we would win. My heart was pounding as we passed the Quaffle back and forth.

And Harry caught the Snitch.

I felt every emotion there is to feel as I stepped off my broom. I hugged and kissed a sobbing Oliver, causing me to sob as well as I jumped for joy with Katie and Angelina. I kissed Harry, who looked like he was in a daze. I cried some more. I hugged and kissed the twins. I kissed Fred as he picked me up in his arms. It was a sweaty kiss, but it was wonderful.

Oliver carried the Cup, but passed it to Harry, and we all lifted Harry up on our shoulders. "_We won the cup. We won the cup._" We sang with joy.

We won the cup.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: You're Joking**

"You're joking." I said, having just heard Hermione whisper to me the events that went on just two nights before involving Sirius Black, who turned out to be an innocent man and Harry's godfather. "Shhhhh." Hermione said to me, telling me that no one could know.

At this point, Harry and Ron spotted us. "What are you doing, Hermione?" said Ron angrily. "You're not telling Ami about our top-secret adventures _again, _are you?"

"Oh don't worry, Ronald, Ami can know. And besides, I thought her aunt might want to know."

Ron huffed angrily, but Harry said, "I guess you're right about that. Ami, there's something you should know about your aunt Tara."

"And what would that be?" I eyed him.

"Well, when I was talking with Sirius before he left, he...errr… mentioned that he knew your aunt as well. He uhh said that they were going to be married just before he was sent to Azkaban."

My eyes grew wide. What?! How could she not tell me something like this? Why would she-… Wait. Tara _had _mentioned that she was engaged once. But it had ended.

I realized my three friends were now staring at me. I sighed. "Thanks for telling me Harry. I'll have to tell her that he is –err- innocent." I left them awkwardly and subconsciously started searching for Fred and George. When I finally saw them by the lake from the window, I stopped myself. What was I supposed to tell them? Hermione made me promise not to tell anyone the truth about Black, not until the time was right. I gritted my teeth in frustration and blew the strand of hair out of my face. I _really _wanted to tell someone about what I just heard.

We would be leaving Hogwarts in just a few days, so I settled with waiting for when I saw Tara again before I said anything.

I stepped down the hallway to meet the twins outside. I began to slow my gait when I felt an eerie feeling that someone was watching me. I glanced to my left and to my right-and noticed a tall boy looking at me, leaning against the wall casually. He wore a Ravenclaw tie.

"Do you need something?" I asked crossly.

"Nothing. Just enjoying the view." He said, raising a sly eyebrow at me.

I scowled and stomped off quickly. Boys…

But the Ravenclaw boy was just one of many. The more I walked, the more I noticed the stares, the winks, the "Hey"s. I wondered why this was all of a sudden happening. I was exactly the same-same hair, same clothes, same face. Why now?

I finally reached my destination, and practically sprinted to Fred and George.

I breathed heavily as I stopped and fell down next to them. "Hey, long time no see." George commented. I rolled my eyes, "I've been busy." What George had said was true- the three of us hadn't spoken much since the Quidditch game. This was mostly due to finals, but it still felt odd.

"We thought you had forgotten about us." Said Fred, as I leaned my head against him, and he played with my hair.

"Worried, Weasley? Maybe I was spending time with my cooler, more important friends." I said teasingly.

"Well, if that's the case, then I guess we'll take _our _cooler, more important friends with us to the _Quidditch World Cup._" Fred said, looking down at me. I jumped up quickly, turning my body to face him, "You're joking!" I said for the second time that day.

"Not at all, my dear Miss Coy," Fred stated. "We found out this morning that Dad got tickets." George said.

"And there may or may not be one for you." Fred said casually. I screamed, sounding much more like a little girl than I intended to, and pulled them both in a tight hug. _We were going to the Quidditch World Cup. _

They laughed as I fell and pulled them both to the ground. We all sat on the grass, fantasizing about what would be the greatest day ever.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Experimenting**

"Number Four, Privet Drive." I said in a clear voice, throwing the Floo Powder on the ground of the Weasley's fire place. I was the second, following Ron, to use the Floo Network to pick up Harry at his Muggle home. I was not particularly excited for this trip, but Fred dragged me along.

But our plan did not work too well. I felt a loud crash, and landed on some exploded bricks in a plain looking living room. I looked up to the surprised faces of three Muggles, and Harry Potter.

The twins and Arthur Weasley came behind Ron and me, also adding to the explosion of the Muggles' fireplace. "Good to see ya, Harry." Ron said with a wide grin.

The father of the house, a very large walrus-like man, turned red like a tomato, and seemed to be speechless. explained to them that they had come to pick up Harry for the Quidditch World Cup. They did not seem to know what to say to this, but then the large man started yelling loudly. The twins and I lost interest, and began examining the new products we were working on- Ton-Tongue Toffee. Over the summer, we had started making pranking products and candy in hopes of creating a joke store. Fred and George wanted to get started with their business right after they graduated, and we discussed either me dropping out of school early, or waiting and coming to help once I finished school.

Well, the son of the large man, who was no less fat, began eyeing our candies. Fred winked at George and me, and approached the young boy. "Oh no. You don't want these. They have lots of chocolate, caramel, and sugary-goodness in them. Oops." He said, casually dropping a few on the floor. The three of us walked away hastily, choking back laughter.

Mr. Weasley and Harry's Muggle guardian had settled everything. Kind of. But we were leaving nonetheless- not before we heard the screaming. The boy had taken the bait and ate the candy-now his tongue was growing and growing. Mr. Weasley roared at us to leave as he tried to fix our mess.

Before I used the Floo Powder, I said to Fred and George, "Well. It worked."

Mrs. Weasley screamed at Fred, George, and I when we got back to the Burrow. Well, she mostly screamed at Fred and George, because-you know- she loves me.

Unfortunately, she found Fred and George's stock pile of most of our new products that were waiting to be tested and threw those away. (But she did not find mine, so we weren't completely lost). Fred's mood was low after this, though, because their mother told them to give up their dreams of creating the joke shop and get a job in the Ministry.

I tried to cheer the boys up when we went up to their room and I pulled out my share of our new products. They were in a box titled "Weasley Wizard Wheezes" with a note at that said, "And Ami too." Excluding the Ami part, that was the name we came up with for our joke store. I watched, my heart silently breaking, as Fred prodded the candies glumly.

"Oh come on. Fred, George, when have you ever cared what your mother said? I know what she thinks is important to you, but that can't stop you from pursuing your dreams. Trust me, she'll warm up to it once she sees how successful and great it its. I mean-we're doing great magic. And people will love it."

My little speech worked, and we began spitting out ideas cheerfully again.

Once our brains were fried, the three of us headed outside to play a mini game of Quidditch with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who turned out to be a decent Chaser. It was a beautiful night, so we ate dinner in the garden as the sun set.

At dinner, I officially met Bill Weasley, who had just shown up. He looked like those motorcycle riders that I saw a lot while I lived in America. His hair was very long, but he smiled brightly down on me. One of the annoying things about the Weasleys was that they all seemed to be at least ten feet taller than me, and Bill was no exception. "I like your hair." I told him.

When I turned around, I heard him whisper to Fred, "She's a cute one, Freddie."

I blushed to myself and took a seat next to Fred and Ginny. Fred's hand rested on mine lightly as we talked about the Quidditch World Cup, Percy's new job at the Ministry, and Bill's hair.

Fred, George, and I had a private conversation about the shop. "Would you consider Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley? Because location is huge." I whispered to them.

"Well, I think we would get more business in Diagon Alley year round overall, because Hogsmeade isn't too busy in the summer." George said.

"And Diagon Alley has more places for us to live when we start out. Unless you guys want to stay in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade." Fred said practically.

The way he said this almost gave me chills. We were actually discussing our lives and our future, and we were planning to do all this _together. _I realized then that that was what I wanted. I may only be a fourth year, but I knew what I wanted in life. Fred, George, and I would have wonderful lives together. Fred and I would be together.

Together. Forever.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Bright and Early**

My head rested peacefully on my pillow, my hair fell gently on my sleeping face. I gripped my pillow case lightly, trying to pull closer to its warmth when- "ALRIGHT YOU LAZY BUMS. LET'S GET A MOVE ON!" It was George, running through the rooms banging a cooking pot.

The clock next to me read 4:30. I cursed George in my head. Well maybe not in my head, because I heard Ginny gasp and Hermione scolded me.

I yawned and pulled my aching body into my day clothes. I was moving very slowly, and kept having to take my shoes on and off since I never seemed to put on the correct socks in my exhaustion.

The boys- Ron, Harry, Fred, and George- were all waiting for Hermione, Ginny, and I downstairs. Mr. Weasley soon joined us and said Bill, Charlie Weasley, and Percy would apparate to the Quidditch World Cup, while we would be using a Portkey. A Portkey was an object used to transport whoever is touching it to a certain location, and ours was located on some hill that was a few miles hike away.

I slumped as we walked to our Portkey location. I was in a terrible mood, as I extremely hate waking up early. Fred and George kept making fun of me. I elbowed them both roughly. They also discussed the Quidditch game we would watch, which would feature the Irish team against the Bulgarian team. We were voting for the Irish (hence the green attire we were wearing) but the twins and Ron had an obsession with the Bulgarian seeker, Viktor Krum.

As we approached our location, I saw Mr. Weasley ahead of us greet another middle-aged man. Behind him, was a boy-about seventeen-who smiled brightly when he saw us. I glared as we came closer to the man and his son because I was not in the mood for greeting people. My face lit up, though, as I got a good look at his face. Not only was it a familiar face, but it was a very attractive one. Very attractive.

We introduced ourselves to the boy-who was called Cedric Diggory. Hermione seemed to think he was good-looking too, and she giggled a bit when they shook hands. When it was my turn to shake Cedric's hand, I tried to keep my composure better than Hermione hand. But-oh- his hand was so strong. "Very nice to meet you, Mr. Diggory," I said playfully. "Nice to meet you, as well." Cedric said.

He kept his hand there for a bit too long, and Fred came up to us and shoved me lightly away while putting his arm around me. "Fred Weasley." He said curtly to Cedric Diggory.

As we came closer to the Portkey-which was an old boot- Fred said to me, "Oh so Pretty Boy shows up and now you're in a good mood?" I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek. "Oh hush up."

All ten of us grabbed the old boot at once, and were immediately transported to our tent site. I was a little dizzy as I recovered from the Portkey, and I clutched on to Fred's arm tightly as we searched through the thousands of other tents to find ours. I'm sure that boosted his self-esteem.

Our tent was in the Irish fan section, so naturally it was painted green. Although the tent was only a few feet wide, inside it looked like a fairly large, fully functional house. Hermione and Ginny ran to find their bunks, and Ron immediately jumped on the couch. I heard Harry behind me say, "I love magic."

Me too, Harry. Me too.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: The Quidditch World Cup**

**Hi guys! Thanks for all your support, especially to my good friend FireLady001. This chapter is a bit long, so enjoy!**

Inside our wonderful tent, Fred and George began to count their savings on their bunks, Mr. Weasley started playing with some matches he found (He has a fascination with Muggle objects), and Hermione, Ron, and Harry left to look at the other tents.

I slumped over to where the twins were. They had just discovered that they have a bit over 37 Galleons total. This brought up the topic of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and how we would pay for everything. It was hard enough already with paying for just the prototypes. I told them what I had- 79 Galleons right now and a bit more in the bank. Fred and George seemed reluctant to use my money, but I insisted. After all, it was my company too.

"So who do you think will win the match?" George asked.

"Ireland." I said immediately. "Their Chasers are much faster and more skilled than Bulgaria's. But I think Krum might catch the snitch."

"Hm. That's a pretty reasonable bet." Said Fred, frowning slightly.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry came back just then. Quickly following them was Bill, Percy, and Charlie. Right after them, a former English Quidditch player-Ludo Bagman- visited us. I didn't like him right away. I do admit it- I can be quick to judge people, but this guy carried a very untrustworthy air, along with his giant belly.

Mr. Weasley, seeming to know Bagman, introduced us all to the loud man. I thought it was funny because, when he introduced me, he stumbled a little before deciding that I was "Fred and George's _friend." _Fred winked at me, whispering, "I guess we've been moved back to the friend zone."

Bagman began to ramble on about the bets he has made today on the outcome of the game. I wondered who would be foolish enough to bet with this man when I heard someone next to me say- "We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts that Ireland wins- but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."

I elbowed them, "Where did you get that brilliant idea about Krum catching the Snitch, hmm?" After I got that out, I said, "And why the bloody hell are you betting all your savings? _We need that."_

"You're the one who said it." George said pointedly.

I groaned and felt like pulling my hair out. What idiots.

My spirits lifted slightly when Bagman seemed really interested in the fake wand we had been working on. He laughed very loudly when it turned into a rubber chicken.

Their father, though, did not seem too happy about them betting either. But Bagman, apparently very eager he would win the bet, told him not to be a spoilsport. I glared at the fat man.

Eventually, we left to find our seats for the game was going to begin soon. On our way, we did a little shopping, which is something that I highly enjoy.

The twins and I bought matching pairs of tall green hats. All of us got free green face paint under our eyes. Fred tried to buy me a green rosette, but I told him he couldn't because of the bet. I was very irritated when I began to walk away and I felt him pin something on my shirt.

We were seated in the top box. It had a wonderful view of the giant stadium, where hundreds of thousands of witches and wizards sat and gazed down upon the green pitch. It could've fit several large buildings. A large blackboard sat on one side of the stadium and posted advertisements. There was a happy birthday section, and Ginny and the twins and I paid to have, "Happy 69th Birthday, Percy Weasley" written.

What began as a nice evening was soon disrupted when I spotted Draco Malfoy and his family sitting close to us.

The Minister of Magic, who Harry seemed to be quite close with, was talking to the Malfoy family, and he brilliantly decided to acknowledge our presence to the Malfoys. Draco sneered at us, and I rolled my eyes. "Good to see you too, Draco," I said, "Oh but I think you should know, while I you were sneering at us, I seemed to notice a bit of green food left in your tooth. You might want to get that."

Everyone stared at me, even the Minister of Magic, who looked a bit shocked. "You're welcome, Draco," was all I said. Draco and his father sat down silently, and I noticed Draco started to pick at his tooth.

The opening ceremonies began shortly after our encounter. The Ireland one was spectacular, with a wonderful firework display of rainbows, shamrocks, green comets, and lots of leprechauns. Then there was Bulgaria. Their mascot happened to be dancing veela. As in dancing beautiful women.

Sure enough, I glanced to my left and I saw Ron and Harry being hypnotized by their magical dance. Then to my right, I saw Hermione looking as annoyed as I probably did, as well as George and my boyfriend staring intently at the beautiful women.

I smacked Fred. Hard. Right on the head. He turned towards me, his eyes still looking glossy. The boys around me then began to start pulling off their Irish gear and claimed they were voting for Bulgaria. "Good Lord, you are all so stupid." I said. I pulled my Irish bandana around Fred's eyes for the rest of the Bulgarian ceremony. Sure, I can goggle at Cedric Diggory, but if Fred looks at those damn veela again, there would be serious problems.

I heard the words, "THEEY'REEE OFFFF." And realized that the game had begun. It was an amazing whirlwind of flyers and Bludgers and Quaffles. It was difficult to keep track, but I had been right. The Irish Chasers were much better than the Bulgarian.

Ireland was soon winning by several points, but Bulgaria managed to score a point. When this happened, the veela danced again and I plugged my fingers in Fred's ears and made sure the rest of the boys did the same.

The game got dirtier as Ireland was leading by over a hundred points. Krum tricked the Irish seeker several times, causing him to crash into the ground. Then Krum was hit full in the face with a Bludger, but he continued to play with his broken nose.

I leaned forward, and my hat fell on the ground. I reached to pick it up, but when I glanced back up at the game, I saw the Irish Seeker on the ground and Viktor Krum flying into the air holding the Snitch.

"IT'S OVER!" The voice over the speaker yelled. "IRELAND WINS 160-170"

Ireland won, but Krum caught the Snitch. Fred and George had already left their seats to find Ludo Bagman. Go figure.

On our way to the tent, Fred and George marveled at their new money. "Thanks for the help, love." Fred said, kissing me. Mr. Weasley coughed and we broke apart quickly. I grinned at Fred.

Mr. Weasley and Harry, Ron, and Hermione pulled ahead of us. Soon, they were nowhere to be seen in the crowd of people. I wasn't worried. I knew the way to the tent.

Then we heard the screaming. In the other direction, a family of Muggles was dangling in the air. A crowd of people yelled and others screamed. I figured it was a riot, and some idiot wizards were messing with the Muggles.

Fred grabbed my hand, and George grabbed Ginny's and we ran quickly back to the safety of our tent. The screaming soon became quieter. "Shouldn't we help?" I asked.

Fred considered this. "Dad will want us at the tent. He'd be worried about us and Ginny."

"_Dumb excuse." _I thought. There were many ways we could've got Ginny back safely and still helped, and besides- when did Fred care about what his Dad thought? I knew what we were doing was right, but I hated sitting there while the action was a mile away.

We were very close to our tent when George stopped suddenly. His eyes followed a group of girls who were walking the other direction. I recognized them as girls from the French wizarding school, which I forgot the name of. "_Probably part veela_." I thought angrily.

I noticed Fred watching too. I stomped on his foot, hearing a CRUNCH, and he looked down at me and kissed me soundly. Much better.

George called to the girls, "Did you know I was once a male model?" He sounded different, like in a trance. I stomped on his foot too, and dragged him along.

When we got back to the tent, I said to George, "I don't know what's more impossible- that those girls would like you or that you could be a male model."

He threw his shoe at me.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Mad-Eye Moody**

The_ Daily Prophet _was still talking about the events after the Quidditch World Cup as the twins and I sat on the Hogwarts Express. After Fred, George, Ginny, and I had made it back to the tent, the Dark Mark-which was Voldemort's symbol-, was cast into the air. There was a whole mess with it being cast by Harry's wand and supposedly by a Ministry official's house elf. Those Ministry folk could believe anything.

There were rumors going around that a special event was coming to Hogwarts this year. I personally thought it was unicorn racing, but no one believed me.

The rumors were confirmed after the twins and I took our seats in the Great Hall for the feast. In front of me was an endless trail of decadent foods, including my favorites- potatoes and prime rib. Fred and George ate like pigs, but I was used to it by now- it was a bit of a Weasley family trait to eat like there was no tomorrow.

However, the sight of cranberry sauce dripping down Fred's face as he chomped on a piece of steak was enough to make me gag. "I swear you were raised by trolls," I said, wiping his face with a napkin.

"Close- I was raised by my mother," Fred said with a food-filled grin. I smacked his arm, "Don't be a git." He pulled me into a kiss, but I broke away quickly. "Gross!" I said.

"Oh gross, huh?" and Fred pulled me close to him as I struggled against his tight grip. "I hate you," I said irritated.

"Love ya, too."

Then Professor Dumbledore silenced the crowd in the Great Hall. He proceeded to inform us that the famous Triwizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts this year. It was a dangerous competition that tested your magical ability against those of two other schools. One champion would be selected to compete from each school.

Fred and George whispered, "Wicked."

Fred and George continued to talk about the Triwizard Tournament through the next day. The other two foreign schools would be coming in about a month. I wasn't really excited about the Tournament, mostly because they had to cancel Quidditch this year because of it.

Fred walked me to my Defense against the Dark Arts class. We had another new teacher this year, as Professor Lupin last year left for his 'medical condition.'

I gasped quietly when I saw our new teacher. He had a scarred and gruesome face, blond hair that was falling out in weird places, and an artificial eye strapped to his head that looked around wildly.

I silently took my seat next to Hermione, who was already skimming through the textbook. I couldn't help but stare at the man's (whose name was Professor Moody, Hermione told me) strange eye. Ron whispered to me that he used to be an Auror, and a crazy one at that. He was nicknamed 'Mad-Eye Moody.' That explains a lot.

Mad- Eye Moody didn't address us as he hobbled-he had a wooden peg as a leg- to the board and wrote "The Unforgivable Curses."

He then turned to us and asked in a harsh voice, "Can anyone tell me what they are?" He gestured to the board.

Hermione raised her hand and told him. They were terrible, very powerful curses that, if used, were a one-way ticket to Azkaban.

I shivered at the thought.

I watched shocked as Moody brought out a spider. I usually don't like spiders, but this one looked poor and helpless. Moody then asked if we could name one of the Unforgivable curses.

"Imperious Curse. The controlling curse." Someone said.

Moody gave us a wicked grin, and whispered "_Imperio_," to the spider. The class watched as he made the spider dance across the room, eventually landing right on Malfoy's head. I would've laughed, but not in this case. I hated how Moody was playing with the creature as if it were a toy. I couldn't imagine an actual person being under that curse with their own body working against them. I shivered again.

Moody asked for the next curse. Neville hesitantly said, "The Cruciatus Curse." Neville's face turned white as he said this.

Moody turned to the spider and said, "_Crucio_." My stomach dropped as we all heard the small spider actually _scream._ In pain. He writhed on the desk as Moody continued to point his wand at him.

I turned to see Neville, who was actually shaking as well. He didn't like this anymore than I did. A small noise escaped Neville's mouth, and me and Hermione yelled at the same time, "STOP IT!"

Moody stopped the torture, and was kinder to Neville now. He told him to stay after class for some tea.

"Now, the last curse," Moody said, "There is only one person known to have survived this curse. And he is sitting in this room." All eyes turned to Harry, and we knew what the curse was. The Killing Curse. The curse Voldemort had tried to use on Harry, but had failed, resulting in Harry's scar.

Moody turned to the spider. "Please don't." I said out loud, but he didn't listen. "_Avada Kedavra_." Moody said to the spider.

There was a flash of green light, and the spider fell flat on the desk.

I cried when I got back to the common room. I thought of my parents. Did it hurt for them? Did they see the same flash of green before it was all over? Did they even have time to think?

Then it clicked for me. Neville. He was probably having these same thoughts right now.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Tricked**

**Sorry I haven't posted in a while. My Wifi has been down. **

I wiped my eyes and searched for the twins. They found me first. Fred looked angry, and George looked worried. I didn't even have to ask what was wrong before they told me.

"You know how we won the bet against Ludo Bagman?" Fred asked me, bouncing on the balls of his feet like he does when he is anxious.

"Well, the old git tricked us! He gave us leprechaun gold coins that the Irish mascot gave out. They disappeared right in front of us." George said.

My first reaction was to curse. And trust me, when I was angry, I could curse like a sailor. My second reaction was to worry. That was _all _the twins' money. Almost all the money for our business, now all we had was mine. "Well..uh.. we can't jump to conclusions. Maybe he didn't know. Send him a letter." I said as I sat down.

The expression on Fred's face told me that he didn't buy it. But George said, "I guess we could try. We'll send him a letter by owl later."

I didn't really think that Ludo Bagman would give them their money.

About a week later, the twins and I found ourselves in the Owlery with George holding our letter to Ludo Bagman in his hand. It contained a bit of blackmailing, but no one messed with the Weasley twins.

"I hope that old-" Fred started, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione came into the Owlery.

They brought up the topic of the Triwizard Tournament, and told us that the other two schools were coming to Hogwarts today. Fred, George, Ron, and Harry talked excitedly about joining the Tournament. I had no interest in joining, but I admitted to myself that I thought it would be exciting to see Fred or George be the champion.

We sent our letter, and went into the Great Hall for dinner. The other schools would be arriving soon.

Most of the other students were not in the Great Hall because they were lined outside to see the arrival of the schools. I blew a strand of hair away from my face before reaching for a piece of bread. Just as I grabbed the warm roll, Dumbledore spoke- "And now we present, the students of the Durmstrang Institute." A large group of Bulgarian students with hard faces entered the Great Hall. They were all dressed similarly in brown clothes and assorted furs. In the back of the group, a familiar looking young man was walking. People whispered excitedly and said, "Viktor Krum!"

"And the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!" Dumbledore said.

Through the doors of the Great Hall entered several girls and boys in Beauxbatons, which was somewhere in France, attire. I was taken aback at what I saw. All the Beauxbatons students were good looking. The boys were very handsome, and the girls were beautiful. I recognized some of them from the Quidditch World Cup. They smiled and waved at the Hogwarts students as they took their seats at the Ravenclaw table.

Once everyone had taken their seats and the excitement had settled down, Dumbledore made an announcement about the Tournament. He mentioned something about the start date and other stuff I didn't really hear. I perked up though, when I heard him say, " No one under the age of 17 may enter."

The twins next to me, who would be 17 on April 1st, yelled at Dumbledore along with many other students. "That's rubbish! Booo!"

I yelled with them, but I realized something then. I felt _relieved._ I really hadn't wanted either of them to join, if it was going to as dangerous as everyone said. I didn't want them to get hurt.

But I still yelled in protest with the crowd.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: The Idiots and the Champions**

My head leaning back against my favorite couch in the common room, I read the words of some author-who I didn't bother to learn the name of- who wrote about trolls. History of Magic was most definitely my least favorite class, even below Potions with Snape. For most of my other classes, I put effort in and got good grades. But for History of Magic, I barely did the dirty work but still managed to have a slightly above average grade.

My eyes scanned the endless black lettering, until something broke up the pattern. In front of the words was a small vial with green liquid inside. I leaned my head all the way back to see Fred and George's upside down faces above me, both grinning wickedly.

"We've done it." They said, and I realized with dread what the vial contained.

"Oh no," I said, reaching to try to grab the bottle from George's hand. "Give it to me!" I kept saying as he held it above his head, which was way out of my reach. The vial contained an aging potion, which the twins believed would let them enter the Triwizard Tournament. They had to cross an Age Line which surrounded the Goblet of Fire-which was where students would put their names in in hopes of being picked as champion.

I sighed and stopped my efforts to grab the potion. "You know it's not going to work. You're going to look like bigger fools than you already are." As a side note, I added, "You really should think of swallowing a Maturity Potion instead."

"Oh- ho- ho," Fred chuckled, stepping towards me. "You don't believe us, darling? A completely dim-witted plan like this couldn't possibly fail."

"Well I'm not going to be there to witness your failure." I said with finality, picking up my History of Magic book and turning my back to the twins.

"You sure about that?" Fred asked

"Yes-"

Fred interrupted me, grabbing my waist and picking me up like a doll. "I think you might want to see this," he said with a wink, and dragged me to the Goblet of Fire.

Several students surrounded the flaming cup. Most of them looked at it longingly, but others looked at the Goblet with confidence and slipped their pieces of paper into it. Fred set me down next to another group of students, who all cheered when Fred and George showed off their Aging Potion.

Through the cheering, a girl's voice said loudly, "It's not going to work." Hermione next to me looked just as annoyed and disbelieving as I did. "Dumbledore drew that Age Line. There's no way a simple aging potion can defy Dumbledore's magic." I crossed my arms and stood closer to Hermione, raising my eyebrow at the twins.

Fred rolled his eyes at me and explained to Hermione what they said to me: The plan was so simple that Dumbledore wouldn't have been thinking of preventing magic as simple as that.

Hermione huffed and looked at me, and we exchanged amused looks. "Go ahead, boys," I said, "Drink up then."

"Bottoms Up," The twins said, each taking a small drink from the tiny vial. They stood outside the Age Line for a few seconds, before hopping over it all together.

And they were through. Applause broke out among many of the students-excluding the visiting students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Fred and George high-fived each other, then winked at Hermione and I. I glared at them and blew my hair out of my eyes in irritation. Fred gave me a pouty look, and I sighed, and began clapping as well.

Fred and George reached up to the Goblet and slipped in their papers with their names on them, but no sooner had the papers left their hand, that they came flying back out. With Fred and George literally flying after them. The twins were through back over the Age Line, but when they got up- each of them had long white beards and hair that even Dumbledore would be proud of.

I clutched my side as I continued to laugh and laugh and laugh. The boys looked shocked at first, but eventually laughed along with everyone else.

I walked a bit pompously over to help them up. "Great look, boys. The fleas in the beard really bring out your eyes." Fred and George began picking their new beards self-consciously.

"Now before I take you both to the hospital wing, do you have anything to say to me? Something that rhymes with, "Ami was _light?" _I looked at them expectantly.

"Not exactly," Fred said with a smile, "Something more along the lines of, 'I still look sexy in a beard.'"

He scooped my up and kissed my lips-beard and all. I pushed away disgusted. "There _are _fleas in that thing," I wiped my lips, "It's like kissing a dog."

"With more slobber." George added, receiving a punch in the arm from me.

The champions would be announced today. Fred and George looked glumly down at their mashed potatoes. I flung a bit into their drooping faces. "Perk up. Angelina might be picked." Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor Chaser and friend of ours, was old enough to join and had entered.

Dumbledore silenced the crowd and we all watched as the first slip of paper flew straight out of the Goblet of Fire. You could hear a pin drop in the room as Dumbledore caught the paper and read it out loud, "The Durmstrang champion is… Viktor Krum!"

I cheered, thinking he would probably be a front-runner in the Tournament.

The next paper flew out of the Goblet, "The Beauxbatons Champion is… Fleur Delacour!"

A very pretty young woman stood up from the Beauxbatons grouped and hugged a little girl next to her. She followed Viktor Krum into another room.

The last slip of parchment shot out of the cup. Dumbledore announced, "The Hogwarts champion is… Cedric Diggory!" I clapped very loudly, just to annoy Fred next to me, who looked very annoyed.

"Let Pretty Boy be the champion. Krum will kill him, anyway," he muttered.

But just as Cedric was going into the other room where Fleur and Viktor had just gone into, a fourth piece of parchment flew out of the Goblet of Fire. It drifted through the air like a sleepy butterfly, and landed right into Dumbledore's hands. All eyes were on Dumbledore, and people whispered nervously.

Dumbledore stammered slightly, "H-Harry Potter."

My eyes shot to Harry, who was only a few seats down from me. He looked just as confused as the rest of us did. There were some angry shouts from the crowd of students, "That's not fair!" "He's not even 17 yet!" "Harry gets to play the 'hero' again!" (I threw a pea at the Ravenclaw student who had made the last comment).

Dumbledore silenced us, and Harry stumbled nervously all the way to Dumbledore, who gestured to the room where the other champions had gone. As soon as he left, the whispers got much louder and more plentiful. The teachers rushed us back to our dormitories immediately.

On our way, George whispered, "I wonder if _he _used an Aging Potion."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: Take Your Bets**

Harry Potter was the talk of the school. As usual. He told the twins and me privately that he didn't put his name in the Goblet, and I believed him. He looked nervous, and a bit scared. He did pretty well at not showing this, but I could read his eyes.

People began wearing Cedric Diggory badges and 'Potter Stinks' badges. This new trend was started by Draco Malfoy. When I found this out, I stabbed the sharp part of the badge into the skin just above his eye. I saw tears.

The First Task was approaching. No one knew what it was, all we knew was that the four champions would compete in some dangerous and deadly event, and the winner would get points. The points would be added up before the Third Task.

I tied my Gryffindor scarf around my neck as I waited for the twins. They came down their dormitory steps with boxes in their hands. I raised my eyebrow at them expectedly.

"It's for bets. What's a tournament without a little gambling?" George said.

"Like you two have had such good times with betting before." I said referring to the Ludo Bagman incident we were still trying to figure out.

"Ouch." Fred said, and we left to find our seats for the First Task.

An area had been cleared on the Hogwarts ground, and in its place a large stadium loomed. As we walked, Fred and George called out, "Bets! Take your bets here!"

When a few pretty Beauxbaton girls past, George said, "Interested in making a bet on Miss Delacour, Mademoiselles?" The girls took one look and him, scoffed, and walked away saying, "Ugh. 'Ogwarts."

We found seats next to Hermione and Ron, both of whom looked very nervous. They handed us some Harry Potter badges that Gryffindor house had made. Our whole section was red and gold and decorated with several Harry Potter posters. But our section was small. Most others wore yellow and black for Cedric, or Durmstrang and Beauxbaton colors.

The arena was rocky and mountainous, like it was an exhibit at a zoo. We found out what creature it held as the first champion-Cedric Diggory- came out. And then we heard the screeching.

A very large and very scaly dragon was released into the ring. Cedric's objective was to grab the small golden egg behind the dragon in the shortest time possible.

It took Cedric approximately fifteen minutes to do this. It was exciting at first- the narrow misses, the fire balls, and Diggory' s clever moves. But my stomach lurched every time the dragon attacked Cedric and barely missed. I didn't want to see what would happen if the dragon captured its prey.

Once Cedric had caught the egg, it was Fleur Delacour's turn.

She obviously wasn't as technically skilled as Cedric, but she managed to collect the golden egg in about fifteen minutes as well.

Then came Krum. He was fairly skilled, but he was very very bold. Thus, he got the egg in the quickest time yet.

My stomach dropped as I saw Harry step out into the arena, and face what looked like the meanest dragon yet. I felt Hermione next to me shaking.

The first thing Harry said was, "_Accio Firebolt!" _It took me a second to comprehend what he was doing. The Firebolt was Harry's broomstick.

Harry immediately soared into the sky on his Firebolt, dodging and weaving the dragon's horned tail. He was spectacular. I had always known he was a great Seeker, but this was the first time I had stopped to watch how skilled he was at flying. It was breathtaking to watch.

Harry swooped down and caught the egg. He had been faster than Fleur, Cedric, _and _Krum.

The Gryffindors cheered Harry's name all the way back to the dormitories.

Just a few days after the exciting First Task, an unexpected task came. I was writing down examples in Transfiguration, looking up only for a few seconds to watch McGonagall scold Harry and Ron for messing around in class. They had been playing with one of the WWW (Weasley Wizard Wheezes) products- a fake wand. I gave them a thumbs up before looking back down at my work.

McGonagall called our attention once again. She explained that the Yule Ball, which was a tradition for the Triwizard Tournament, would be held on Christmas Day. She called it an 'opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests.' This basically meant we would be having a ball with the gorilla-like Bulgarians and the fashion model French.

McGonagall proceeded to tell us that we had to behave respectably, as the hosts of the Ball. She said that even though it was a chance to 'let our hair down', she would be displeased if any Gryffindors embarrassed the school. She eyed me as she said this.

I knew she was thinking of just a few weeks ago, when she found Fred and me in a secluded corner, showing 'Public Affection,' as she called it.

I smiled right back at her, and winked.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Rejection**

The Yule Ball became the newest talk of the school. Boys were eyeing girls nervously, and girls were found in groups giggling everywhere you turned. Giggling girls sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me, so the next several days were not pleasant for me.

At lunch, I was shocked to see Fred and George up to their noses in books. Their OWL's were coming up, but I still found it surprising that they bothered to study. The twins told me they were only doing it because their Mum would murder them if they did poorly.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry sat down next to us. Ron and Hermione looked like they had been arguing, but hey-what else was new? I saw George out of the corner of my eye slip Ron a piece of paper. Ron whispered it aloud, but all I could make out was, "Before the good ones are gone." I knew immediately he was referring to Ron and Harry getting a Yule Ball date.

Ron scoffed and said, "Well who are you two going with?"

George took a quick look around, and threw a piece of paper at a girl a few seats down- Angelina Johnson. He mouthed the words, "Will you go to the ball with me?" Angelina blushed, and nodded. I personally thought that was a crude way of asking someone to the ball, but I didn't expect much different from George.

Ron rolled his eyes, "What about you, Fred?" Hermione looked up when he said this.

Fred put his arm around me and said, "Who do you think, moron?"

"Actually, Ron, I haven't got a date to the ball. No one has asked me yet." I said, shrugging Fred's arm off. Fred looked at me flabbergasted.

"Fine. Will you go to the ball with me?" Fred asked, irritated.

"I don't know," I said slyly, "That's a bit of a casual way of asking someone to the Yule Ball."

Hermione laughed, but no one else did. I stood up, and Hermione did as well. "See you later, Frederick." I said, leaving the Great Hall with Hermione.

"Are you going with anyone, 'Mione? Has Ronald asked you yet? As a last resort, of course."

Hermione laughed a bit. "Ron tried, but you're right, it was as a last resort. He can be so dimwitted sometimes. But I do have a date to the Yule Ball."

I raised an eyebrow, and Hermione responded, "Viktor Krum asked me."

I found myself wandering through the halls, blowing the hair out of my eyes every now and then. I wondered if Fred _would _ever ask me correctly. I knew I was probably being a bit hard on him, but the girl in me didn't care.

I blew the strand of hair out of my eyes for about the seventeenth time, when a voice behind me said, "You know, you could 'ave uzed a 'air pin for zat." I turned around, and saw Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion. "Maybe a nice 'reen one. To mazch your eyes." She said this in a think French accent.

"Thanks for the advice," I said, a bit awkwardly and turned away. Fleur followed me. She said, "You 'ave lovely skin. What do you uze?"

I glanced back at the blond girl. "Not much anything. But over the summer I used avocado. Except it was thrown in my face." I said, trying to turn away again. Fleur Delacour laughed a beautiful laugh. "I like you. Did it's hurt?"

It took me a second to realize what she meant. "Oh the avocados? No, not really. It felt much better when I poured pumpkin juice down the thrower's shirt."

She laughed again. "What iz your name?"

"Ami Coy."

"Call me Fleur." She said. "Ar you going to ze ball?"

"Hm. I'm not sure yet. I have a boyfriend, but he hasn't been very-uh- cooperative."

She nodded knowingly, "I am going with ze Raven clew boy- Roger..er.. Davies."

It was my turn to nod. I had seen Roger Davies before. But as I was nodding, Fleur screamed, "Look out!" She pulled me to the ground. A swarm of color went over my head, and I heard loud noises. I, however, was not the least bit surprised when I saw the swarm of color had exploded onto the floor and was now a puddle of water.

Small flashes of fireworks went on around us. But they weren't fireworks. They looked like colorful, exploding bubbles. Fleur looked quite scared, for someone who was in the Triwizard Tournament.

The firework bubbles stopped, and a small little first year came up to Fleur and I. He handed me a small chocolate and ran off. Fleur said to me, "Oh, don't ea' itz!"

Knowing who it was from, I ignored her and popped the chocolate into my mouth. I didn't consider that I could be turned into a canary-as the twins and I had been working on our 'Canary Creams'- but that did not happen. Instead, I bit down on a piece of paper. Pulling it out of my mouth, I read the small lettering, "Look up."

A large banner, held on either sides by George and Lee, read: "Will you go to the Ball with me?" Fred broke through the banner like sports teams sometimes did, and handed me a rose. "So, will you?"

Fleur, still next to me, said, "Aw. Is thiz ze uncooperative boyfriend of your's?"

Fred raised an eyebrow at me, but I took his rose and sniffed it. I smiled at him, and said, "Alright then."


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: The Yule Ball**

The cold air whipped across my face and made my lips burn. My hands, which were covered in red mittens, cupped a ball of snow. I ducked down swiftly behind a small mound of the fluffy, white substance. I took a deep breath, glanced to my left, and popped back up again. I spotted my target- a flash of red hair- and threw my snowball.

It came close to Fred's face, but missed. I cursed out of frustration, but in my delay, my shoulder was hit with a snowball. George next to me handed me another snowball, and he, Harry, and I all threw our snowballs at the other team. We hammered them with another round of snowballs, and another, and another. But Ron, Lee and Fred came right back at us with a whirlwind of snow. Then, a dark figure dashed across the snowy field, and ran up to a spot not too far from our base. We were now an easy target for Lee Jordan's snowballs, but he was also an easy target for us. He damaged our pitiful snow mound, but we were able to push him back.

I reached down to make another snowball when I heard a girl's voice call, "Ami!"

I looked up to see Hermione running through the snow towards our base. "Ami! Come on, we have to go get ready!"

I hadn't realized it had gotten so late. The Yule Ball was a mere three hours away, which was barely enough time to get ready. "Sorry!" I exclaimed, "Bye boys!" And I dashed through the snow with Hermione.

We went up to our dorm that we shared, and I searched through my trunk for my dress. Today was Christmas Day, and my trunk was littered with candies and presents I had received that morning. I cursed myself for not being more careful with the sticky candies-they could have ruined my dress, which was at the bottom of my trunk.

I found the purple gown, grabbed my beauty supplies, and ran after Hermione. The two of us met Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson in one of Hogwart's large bathrooms. We giggled-yes, giggled- excitedly about our dresses, our dates, and the Ball.

The four of us then proceeded to doing each other's makeup. I did Angelina's, and Katie did Hermione's.

"Oh right," I said, "I asked Fleur Delacour to come help."

"WHAT?" Hermione exclaimed. "She's a fake, narcissistic brat."

I raised an eyebrow at Hermione, then looked back down to powder Angelina's face. "Do you even know her 'Mione? I talked with her the other night. She was pretty cool."

Hermione rolled her eyes irritably. "Whatever you say," I heard her mutter.

Fleur came an hour later, already almost ready. "So, who iz firzzt?" She asked. The three other girls looked at me, and I stepped up to Fleur who immediately went into stylist-mode. She curled and pulled and pinned and braided my hair as I waited.

"Done." She finally said, "Zat boy of your's iz going to drop deed." I looked in a mirror. My hair was sparkling, and curled in elegant ringlets. Strands in the front were braided back beautifully, and clipped at the back of my head with a diamond pin. I grinned at Fleur, "Impressive."

"Like you 'ad any doutz."

Now Angelina, Katie, and Hermione looked at Fleur excitedly, each wanting their hair done. I threw an I-told-you-so look at Hermione, who rolled her eyes again.

Many many minutes later, we were all ready. Angelina, who was going with George, wore a dark tight-fitted dress. Katie, who was going with Lee Jordan, wore red. Fleur wore a shiny silver dress. Hermione looked absolutely gorgeous in a periwinkle, flowy dress.

Fleur hugged me and said she had to go find Roger and prepare for the ceremony. Katie did the same.

Hermione had to leave too, to find Viktor Krum and get ready for the champion ceremony at the Yule Ball. She grinned brightly at me, and I whispered to her, "Don't let Ron or Harry give you any crap about Viktor." Hermione rolled her eyes and left Angelina and I alone.

We made our last finishing touches, and eventually left the bathroom to find our dates.

George and Fred were waiting just down the hall. I carefully stepped over to them, as I was new to the silver high heels I was wearing. I didn't even see George, I had eyes only for Fred. He looked absolutely dashing, in dark brown dress robes that were a bit old-fashioned but looked wonderful on him.

Fred handed me my flower, his eyes not leaving mine. I grinned at him, not saying a word as I watched his eyes light up. Fred took my hands, and I took a step back to show him my dress. It was a one-shouldered dark purple gown. It had tulle ruffles that went down to the floor starting at a point above my waist. I wore small black gloves.

Fred smiled at my dress, and spun me around. I noticed George and Angelina next to us had embraced, but they had now broken apart, clearly waiting for us. Fred took my arm, "Shall we?"

"We shall." I responded, and the four of us walked to the Great Hall.

Inside was what didn't look at all like the Great Hall I knew. Snowflakes fell from the roof and decorated the room with white sparkles. Several white Christmas trees lined the border of the room. There were few tables, some singers at the end of the hall, and a large dance floor in the center.

George and Angelina and Fred and I waited on the sides for the Yule Ball to officially commence with the dance of the champions and their dates. I saw Ron Weasley with Padma Patil. He didn't look very happy, but he asked me if I knew who Hermione's date was. I just shrugged and winked at him.

Ginny and Neville Longbottom went together. Ginny looked very pretty, but she was also one of the youngest there, since the only way third years could go was if fourth years asked them. Neville was blushing furiously.

The four of us found Katie and Lee, and we stood with the rest of the crowd as the champions entered. First came Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang. I wondered absentmindedly if Harry was upset about this pairing, because I recalled that he had a crush on Cho. But anyway, Cedric looked very handsome. Angelina, Katie, and I gave each other knowing looks.

Then came Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies. Fleur smiled at me when she saw us.

Third was Harry Potter and Parvati Patil. He and Ron obviously hadn't taken George's advice, and waited for the last minute to find dates. Parvati looked happy, but I couldn't say the same about Harry.

Last was Viktor Krum and Hermione. Viktor actually cleaned up nicely, and Hermione looked even more radiant as she walked with him gracefully. I heard Ron behind me make a small noise. I glanced at him- he was glaring at Viktor and Hermione. Then he turned his glare to me.

And the ball began.

Fred and I were some of the first few to start dancing. He took my hand and put his other hand around my waist. I held on to him tightly as we danced to the music. My eyes rarely left his, except for a few moments when I spotted some of my friends dancing with their dates. After about the second song, though, I broke apart from Fred. I reached down and took off my shoes, which were murdering my feet. I threw them somewhere to the side, and resumed my dancing.

The moment was absolutely magical as the snow fell around us and the music played and Fred spun me around. My heart fluttered every time he lifted me into the air. I don't think I ever stopped smiling.

We danced and danced and danced. The slow, beautiful music eventually stopped though and a wizard band began to play. Fred raised an eyebrow at me and I laughed as we followed the cheering crowd to get closer to the band. Now Fred and I danced wildly. I think we injured a few people, but most people kept their distance from our exuberant dancing.

Fred and I never left the dance floor. At one point, I noticed I was hungry, but I really didn't care. Most people left at about 10 or 11 pm, even George and Angelina. But not Fred and I.

We had dropped the formal dancing, and resigned to swaying with the music with his arms around my waist and mine around his neck. The raspy voice of the band's lead singer sang about lost love as I stepped side to side, my bare feet touching the cold floor.

Fred leaned down and kissed me for the first time that night. When he broke away, I closed my eyes and reminisced in the still lingering kiss. My lips broke into a small smile as I opened my eyes and saw Fred's face. I pulled closer to him so my head was resting on his chest. We stayed like this for a long time.

Eventually, I broke away to take a quick look around. There were about ten couples still dancing, and only a bit more at the tables. I heard a clock chime. It was midnight. At this time, the teachers came in to shoo us out.

Fred put his arm around me and we walked back to Gryffindor tower. I left my shoes.

On our way, we laughed as we saw Snape and Filch and several other teachers desperately trying to break up kissing couples. We also past some crying girls and some frustrated boys.

In the Gryffindor common room, there were only a few lingering people still sitting around. Fred entwined his hand with mine and we sat on the couch together, watching the fire quietly. My head leaned on his chest, and he brushed my hair-which was now wild.

Eventually we became the only people left in the common room. Fred sighed before asking, "So, how did you enjoy my dance moves, darling?"

I snuggled closer to him, "Of course, they were wonderful. If the new dance style is looking like a mentally disturbed giraffe."

"Would rather have danced with Longbottom?" Fred retorted.

I laughed, "Oh God, someone needs to give that boy a Coordination Charm. Besides, I'm more into redheads."

"Hey, stay away from Ron. I don't want you taking advantage of my baby brother."

I laughed again. We were quiet for a minute after that, and then I muttered, "Ron seemed pretty tweaked that Hermione went with Krum."

I heard Fred scoff and say, "It's his fault for not bucking up and asking the girl. Those two are either going to kill each other or marry each other. I hope its kill-I'm not sure if I want Hermione as a sister-in-law."

I smacked him lightly, before half -yawning, "Don't say that."

My breathing slowed and Fred kissed my head.

"Ami?"

"Ya?" I yawned.

"I think I might love you." Fred said.

I didn't say anything. But I turned around and kissed him. And kissed him again. And again. I slowly broke apart from him and found my place on his chest.

I yawned again and whispered, "Love you too."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: The Purple Boy**

As the common room buzzed with excitement about the upcoming Second Task, Fred, George, and I talked quietly at a table. "So Dungbombs first then?" George said, looking at us.

"Right. Dungbomb, then vanishing robes, then shower, then the purple smoke." I said, listing off the steps of our newest prank.

"Make sure," Fred said, "when you get his robes, get his wand too. So he can't summon them back."

"K. We need to lead him to the locker rooms quickly, so we don't get caught. And there's one thing else we might need." I said, thinking of a brilliant idea.

"What?" the twins asked at the same time.

"An Invisibility Cloak." I said with a grin.

The three of us exchanged looks, because we knew just where to find one.

"Got it." Fred said, walking down the stairwell with George, carrying a shiny cloak. The common room was louder than ever, with people bustling out the door to get good seats for the Second Task.

We were to perform our brilliant prank just after the Second Task, once we got everything in place. First, we were to have someone push Malfoy into the lake, forcing his pompous self to take a bath at the castle. There, George was to wear the Cloak and vanish his clothes and take his wand. George would then give me the Cloak and Malfoy's clothes and I would lead Malfoy somewhere near the Quidditch pitch. Then Fred would take over and stick Malfoy's feet to the ground and cover Malfoy with a sticky purple smoke. We're hoping he'll be stuck there until dark. Our plan is foolproof, as if Malfoy suspected us he would have to admit he had jumped into the lake during the Second Task, which would have disrupted the festivities.

But first, we had a boy-whose cloak we had just stolen-to support.

The Second Task took place literally in the middle of the lake. The seating areas were on large platforms above the water. Fred and George wandered around with their betting box. I found us seats with some other Gryffindors wearing Harry Potter badges. I looked around for Ron and Hermione, but they were nowhere to be seen.

The task began shortly after. The champions' goal was to dive in the deep lake and find "what valuable thing they had lost" in an hour. A shot was fired and the four students jumped into the Black Lake, with Harry being the last to hit the water. We cheered nonetheless.

After that the task wasn't very exciting. We waited on the lake for about a half hour until the first champion popped out of the water- it was Cedric Diggory. He was holding Cho Chang, which apparently was the thing he 'lost.' I clapped without much enthusiasm.

Shortly after was Viktor Krum. I gasped loudly, and peered over the edge of our stand. Viktor was holding a soaking wet Hermione. She coughed as he carried her to the stands.

Fred and George were looking at me funny. I realized I was still standing up. I sat back in my seat awkwardly, still shocked.

After Viktor was Fleur Delacour. She looked very beaten up, and she was not carrying anyone. Someone made an announcement that Fleur had taken herself out of the task. I felt bad for her, but I was again wondering why in the first place she had done this tournament, if she knew she didn't have the skill for it.

I realized then that this meant Harry was third. It wasn't last, but third wasn't very good. And what made it worse was that the clock was almost to one hour, and Harry wasn't back yet. Nervous whispers broke out among the crowd.

Finally, just before the clock chimed, Harry rose to the surface. He was carrying not one-but two people. Ron Weasley and a little girl. We all looked down at the commotion as Harry came to the stands. The little girl was apparently Fleur's sister, and she was very grateful Harry saved her. However, yells began to break out among the stands when the voice announced that Harry had received second place-above Viktor- because of his 'moral fibre' for saving two people.

All I knew was that Harry Potter was probably the only person on the planet to receive higher scores in the Triwizard Tournament for _moral fibre._

But I'm not complaining.

We cheered Harry's name as we got the first part of our prank in motion. The twins and I had Lee Jordan sneakily trip Malfoy, who fell right into the lake. Crabbe and Goyle helped him up, but as we suspected, he marched immediately to the showers.

I went to my post at a marked tapestry just outside the bathroom Malfoy went in. The plan was going perfectly as George came out, quickly slipped the Invisibility Cloak over my head, and gave me Malfoy's clothes. He whispered to me, "The git showers in his underwear apparently, so this is all I got." I stifled my laughter as George ran off. I used a spell to levitate his clothes into the air and had them follow me to the Quidditch pitch.

Malfoy was running after them in a towel, so I sped up. Once we got to the field, I hucked the flying clothes farther away and dashed off, still under the cloak. I met Fred in our hiding spot and watched as used another spell to glue Malfoy's feet to the ground. The poor boy struggled, his towel falling off-revealing his white underwear.

Fred threw a purple ball-one of our products- which exploded in front of Malfoy, covering him in thick purple dust. I fell over, doing my best to laugh silently. Then, Fred and I crept away from the purple boy and went through a door into the locker rooms.

We then let out all our laughter. "That was definitely a new favorite of mine," Fred chortled. "Excellent job, darling."

"Excellent job to you, too." I said clutching my said.

"We better go find George," he said, "He'll want to get a view of Barney, the purple dimwit."

"You go. I want to stay here a bit. I miss it," I said admittedly, gesturing to our Quidditch locker room which we hadn't been in in over a year.

Fred simply nodded and left.

I touched the bench that was in the center of the room. It may have sounded stupid, but I really did miss this place. And I_ really _missed Quidditch. I made a promise to myself that I would play a lot of games with Fred and George over the summer, to make sure my skills were still there.

"Vat vas it you vere lauving about?" I heard a rough voice say, interrupting my thoughts. I jumped as I turned around to see none other than Viktor Krum, leaning against a wall.

"What do you want?" I hissed. I didn't know why I was so angry at him, but I knew it had something to do with him coming out of the water with Hermione.

"I vant to know vat you vere lauving about." Viktor Krum said, "Does it 'ave to do vith da purple boy outside?"

"Maybe." I said curtly. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Yes." I said finally. "But now it's my turn to ask a question." I raised the eyebrow at him this time.

Viktor didn't respond. He just looked at me expectedly.

I sighed, but didn't hold anything back: "What is going on with you and Hermione Granger?! You went to the ball together. You saved her in the lake. I saw you two in the library not too long ago. What's going on?"

Viktor looked surprised-if a small widening of his eyes counted as 'surprise.'

I waited for his response. I waited for a whole minute. Finally he said with his Bulgarian accent, "I like your friend."

I narrowed my eyes at the older boy. "You can't get-errrrr- You're going to leave soon and-uh-" I started to say something several times before I said, " Hermione's the best girl you will ever find. Break her heart and I'll break your legs. And your fingers."

This time, Viktor Krum laughed. It was a harsh, rough laugh. But it was a laugh.

"You ar very vunny, Miss..?"

"Coy. Ami Coy." I said before giving it a second thought.

"Vell Miss Ami Coy. I promise to ve nice to Her-me-one-ee." He said, still laughing slightly.

At this time, I realized I didn't have a clue what Viktor Krum was doing in our locker rooms. I asked him, and he responded saying he wanted to see the Quidditch pitch before the Third Task was set up, and he heard noises.

I didn't really know what to say to him after that. "Well, um, good luck. And be nice." I said, turning to leave. I felt his hand on my arm, turning me around. I flinched when I saw how close he was to me. "Thank you. I vill," he said to me.

I shuffled back awkwardly before leaving the locker room.

So to summarize: One of the Hogwarts champions is an attractive boy, the other Hogwarts champion is one of my best friends, the Beauxbatons champion is my newest girl-friend, and the Durmstrang champion is now dating my best girlfriend.

Now, who to vote for?


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: Sweet 17**

"Mione. Get up!" I said, shaking Hermione as she lay peacefully in her bed. She groaned and rolled over. I gave out an exasperated sigh and threw my pillow at her. "Get up!"

"It's not even six yet, Ami." Hermione mumbled.

"I know. I need some time. Come on!" I pulled on her arm until she fell out of bed. Hermione groaned again and reluctantly got ready.

My mind was racing. Today was the first of April, otherwise known as April Fool's Day. But today was also the birthday of two certain red-headed boys. And I, as of now, had planned nothing as far as celebrating. I was planning on setting it up yesterday, but I had gotten distracted. And, today, I couldn't think of anything at all.

Nothing seemed good enough for their seventeenth birthday. Everything was either too small or too done before.

Hermione was no help either. She wasn't very good at the whole 'party' thing and 'prank' thing. "Well it's not my fault that the past three birthdays the three of you have spent together have been so extravagant. If you just started smaller and worked your way up over the years, we wouldn't have this problem."

I remembered old cartoons where light bulbs appeared above a character's head. This was one of those moments. "You're brilliant Hermione," I said, grabbing her hand and running out of the Gryffindor common room.

It was now nine o'clock on that Saturday morning, and the twins would be waking soon. I tiptoed to their beds in the boy's dormitory. I crept close to their beds, and jumped on George's first.

"GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP!" I said, bouncing up and down on George's bed. George groaned in pain as I hopped off of him and jumped on Fred's bed. "GET UP GET UP! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, GET UP!"

I heard some groans of annoyance from the other boys in the dormitory, but I didn't care. Fred smiled up at me and said, "Thank you darling, but your knee is digging into my ribs." I smiled brightly and jumped off his bed.

"Meet you downstairs!" I called and dashed down the stairs. I was so excited for this day, now that the plan was in set. But I didn't wait for them; I practically ran to the Great Hall and started breakfast without them.

The boys showed up, pretending not to look confused, a half hour later. There were specks of green in George's hair from the first part of my birthday surprise. When they exited the porthole of the Gryffindor tower, they were blasted with green smoke, like we used on Malfoy. It was a small prank, and it looked like they had both avoided pretty easily, but I was only just getting started.

"Toast?" I asked. The twins sat down, taking their food. "So how does it feel to be seventeen? You're officially adult wizards."

"I feel… a bit bloated, actually." George said, putting butter on his toast.

"Well that's wonderful," I said sarcastically.

We finished breakfast quickly and I left to use the restroom. I passed Lee Jordan on my way, and I winked at him. He knew what to do.

When I came back, I set off the rain of confetti. It fell on top of the now stuck- to- the- floor (thanks to Lee) Fred and George. It littered their hair with rainbow specks. But, of course, the twins were still not impressed. "Cute." Fred said.

"I hoped you'd think so." I said, smiling mischievously. I unstuck them.

"Well. Let's go back to the common room, shall we?" I said. "Happy Birthday, again, Georgie." I said, but I was looking at Fred.

"Happy Birthday, love," I said to George. I kissed George full on the lips, and grabbed his hand and ran off. "Come on, George!" I called to Fred behind me.

At the common room, I gave Fred and George their presents. I handed George the self-serving mug I had gotten for him, which had the letter "F" on it. I handed Fred an identical cup, with the letter "G."

George was smiling at Fred, but Fred simply looked annoyed. I grinned widely at the both of them, "And these are from your Mum and Dad," I said. I gave George Fred's card, and I gave Fred George's card.

"Happy Seventeenth." I said, yet again.

Fred and George opened and examined their gifts. After looking at my mug for a while, Fred said, "Thank you, darling," and he leaned down to kiss me. I backed away, putting a shocked look on my face.

"What the hell are you doing, George?" I said, receiving another annoyed look from Fred. I smiled to myself.

"Well boys, ready for dinner?" I asked, and we headed to the Great Hall. I let them walk a bit ahead of me, and jumped behind a corner when I saw my chance. I let off one of our products that wasn't quite ready. It was a kind of darkness powder the blurred the victim's vision. I then shot them with a spell down another corridor, slowly leading them to our true destination.

A series of other pranks went off (set up by me and a reluctant Hermione), all eventually leading Fred and George to a door that led to the castle grounds. At this time, I was just outside of that door, on the lawn. Behind me, was a wonderful birthday party on the lake. Several Gryffindors were there, and we had set up floating streamers and lanterns and food from the Hogwarts kitchen. Now all we needed was the birthday boys.

Fred and George opened the large doors, obviously knowing that they had been lead there. My wand was still pointing at a spot above them, but I relaxed my hand. And then about a hundred water balloons fell on top of Fred and George.

They got soaked. I let out a scream of triumph. _I got them_. Both twins laughed after getting over their shock, and stared happily at the party set up just for them.

I grabbed their hands, laughing giddily. "This is amazing." Fred said, looking around at our set-up by the lake. "Not too shabby." George said.

We partied until sunset, and we would have gone longer, but Filch was bound to shoo us back into the castle once it got dark. We all planned to continue the party back up at the common room. Everyone made the hike back up to the Hogwarts castle, but I stayed behind to clean everything up.

I picked up the last bit of streamers when two arms grabbed my waist. They pulled me back, and I felt a kiss on my cheek.

"Gotcha." Fred said.

"Gotcha first." I said. "Did you like my charade?"

"A bit annoying, but very worth it."

I laughed again, "Kiss me, George."

And Fred did.

This day was probably very high on my list of Best Days. I kissed Fred by the lake at sunset, and I had gotten the infamous Fred and George Weasley, even if it was only with a few water balloons.

But hey, those water balloons did the trick.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Coming out of the Maze**

The Third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament was upon us. The sun was just setting as the twins and I marched down to the field-which now held a very large green maze. We met most the of the Weasley family up in the stands. They had all come to support Harry.

Hermione, coming with Ron, sat down next to me. She didn't say anything to me; instead she stared straight ahead at the maze, obviously fearing for Harry's safety. "He'll be fine," I whispered to her. "There are all kinds of ways for them to send help signals and find their way out."

"I know that," Hermione said, "I just really want him to win now."

I grinned at her. She was right-we were all party beyond fearing for Harry's safety, now that he had proven himself to do well in the Tournament. His chances on winning were actually very high.

While waiting, George passed out Harry Potter badges and flags. Hermione and I used our wands to write "Go Harry" on our faces. We all cheered loudly when Harry came out, accompanied by Dumbledore. Cedric and his father followed them, and Hermione and I clapped along with Hufflepuff students and some other students from Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Viktor Krum came out with the Durmstrang headmaster, looking sullen. Fleur came out last with the Beauxbatons headmaster, who was a very tall and large woman.

The champions' goal was to maneuver through the maze, passing obstacles, and be the first to find and collect the Triwizard Cup. Harry and Cedric-tied for first- lined up at the entrance to the maze. Our little section clapped even louder as they went in. Krum, and then Fleur eventually followed.

I blew a hair out of my face, but continued to clap with the rest of the crowd for a short while after the champions went in. But, like the Second Task, the Third task was quite dull for a while, leaving the crowd to wonder what challenges the four champions faced in the dark maze.

Occasionally, if you listened closely, you could hear shouts and yells coming from the maze. One particular high-pitched scream from Fleur Delacour made me shiver. I looked at Hermione nervously, who looked equally as frightened. I scooted closer to Fred, wondering if my new friend was alright.

We waited and waited and waited, as I felt queasier and queasier.

I let my head rest on Fred's shoulder, trying my best not to look as nervous as I was. Just as I did this, I heard someone-not from the maze- scream. Everyone in the crowd looked down at the entrance to the maze. There was Harry Potter on the ground with the Triwizard Cup…and Cedric Diggory next to him.

This was no time to be clapping or cheering. Something was dreadfully wrong. Hermione grabbed my arm tightly.

Harry was crying and shaking and yelling, but we couldn't hear what he was saying. At one point, Harry stood up, fully revealing the unconscious Cedric. No-not unconscious. Cedric was dead.

More screams and cries broke out. Cedric's father rushed down from the stands toward his dead son. Teachers tried to control the crowd as Dumbledore went over to Cedric's still body. I noticed Harry being led back up to the castle by Professor Moody.

Hermione was crying, and I desperately wanted to do something. But what could I have done? All I could do was wait with the crowd for the answers we all wanted.

Dumbledore then addressed Snape and McGonagall. They all suddenly stormed towards the castle. At this time, I knew what we had to do. I stood up, beckoned to the twins and Ron, and dragged Hermione-who was still holding my arm-along with me back to the castle.

Fred, George, and Ron did not seem to know what I was doing. But Hermione understood. She felt what I felt- that Harry was still in danger. I didn't notice that the Weasley family was following us until we got to the castle.

We searched through the corridors until I saw the hospital wing. We had to start somewhere, so we went inside. Harry was not there, but Mrs. Weasley still badged Madam Pomfrey about where he was. Poor Madam Pomfrey did not seem to know. But just at that moment, Harry came in with a black dog and Professor Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley was the first to rush toward him, but Dumbledore stopped her and told us we should not question Harry and let him have some peace and rest. He also told Madam Pomfrey that the dog was to stay with Harry.

I looked at Hermione, remembering something she had told me about Sirius Black at this time last year. "Is that-"

Hermione nodded.

Our group grabbed chairs and sat around Harry's bed. He soon fell asleep.

Harry slept for a long while. He was still asleep when Professor McGonagall, Snape, and the Minister of Magic came into the hospital wing. They were yelling loudly. Shortly after, Dumbledore came in the room.

I saw Harry stir in his bed, and I knew he was awake. We all listened to the adults scream at each other. I didn't know much about what they were saying, but I picked up that a man named Barty Crouch, who was a follower of Voldemort, had received the Dementor's Kiss just now inside the castle. Dumbledore was angry at this. Dumbledore was also describing to the disbelieving Minister that when Harry had touched the Triwizard Cup in the maze, he had been sent to a grave yard and witnessed the return of Lord Voldemort.

At this point, Harry spoke up. He joined the yelling, saying he had seen Lord Voldemort, but the Minister still refused to believe him. Dumbledore and Harry and the Minister argued back and forth until the Minister of Magic eventually left the wing after giving Harry his winnings from the Tournament, still not believing that Lord Voldemort had returned.

I wondered to myself how someone could be the Minister of Magic and still be a person of great stupidity.

Dumbledore immediately began giving almost everyone in the room orders, and I realized for the first time that night, we were in the beginnings of a war.

To add to the craziness of the night, the black dog turned into just who I suspected- Sirius Black. Mrs. Weasley and the twins looked shocked, but were harshly reassured by Ron that he was harmless. It probably wasn't the right time to be thinking about this, but while I looked for the first time at Sirius Black's sullen, but handsome face, I wondered about what my Aunt Tara thought when she looked at him all those years ago. He was her fiancé, after all.

Eventually, Sirius Black and Dumbledore left the room, leaving myself, the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry in the hospital wing. Harry took a sleeping potion and was knocked out immediately.

We all slowly trickled out of the hospital wing, leaving Ron and Hermione to stay with Harry. The twins and I said goodbye to the Weasley family, and headed back to the dormitories.

In the warm familiarity of the Gryffindor common room, I still felt cold and frightened. Things would never be the same again. Voldemort was back.

Just as Fred and George were about to head up to the boys' dormitory, I grabbed them both close and hugged them tightly. And I sobbed.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39: Remembering Diggory**

I held on to Fred's hand tightly, my palms white. An array of delectable foods lay in front of me, but I-along with most other students- did not feel like eating. The usually festive Great Hall was now decorated with black drapes, and had the air of a funeral. Actually, it practically was.

Dumbledore stood before the crowd of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang students, looking morbid. He voiced to all the students what a few of us already knew: Cedric Diggory had been murdered by Lord Voldemort, who has returned. Dumbledore spoke of Cedric and his bravery and wonderful qualities. My blood turned cold as Dumbledore talked about Cedric, but it began to boil immediately after. _"How could someone take such a wonderful life with no remorse?" _I thought.

After Dumbledore finished his speech, we all took a moment of silence for Cedric. The Hall immediately became eerily quiet. I closed my eyes and saw Cedric's face. I opened my eyes again.

"'Ere. I'll write you zis zummer." Fleur said, handing me a piece of paper. All around there was hugging and crying and laughter, as students said goodbye to the foreign guests. It was a very different atmosphere from the night before. Fleur hugged me. "Keep zat 'air pinned back," she said, referring to that piece of hair that fell in front of my eyes.

I rolled my eyes, "I'll do that, thanks. And you'll take swimming lessons, yes?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Yes, I vill, Miss Ami Coy," and she hugged me one last time before dashing off.

I looked through the crowd of people and spotted Viktor Krum talking to Hermione. I pushed past a few students until I was next to them. It seemed Viktor was also telling Hermione to write to him. Viktor nodded at me, "Ami, vright?" he asked.

"Ya. Viktor, right?"

He nodded again, "Good to zee you." He walked off.

Hermione blushed when I raised an eyebrow at her.

I pulled my trunk behind me as the twins and I looked for an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. My blood boiled as I saw a blond boy with two large boys standing like oafs behind him. Malfoy was standing at the doorway of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's compartment. He seemed to be taunting them, as usual. I heard him say something like, "Now the Dark Lord's back-"

Fred, George, and I all got out our wands at the same time. The three of us hexed Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle just as flashes of light came from inside the compartment. Apparently all six of us had the same idea. The Slytherins lay on the floor, unconsciousness due to the combination of what looked like the Jelly Legs hex, the Furnunculus Curse, and the Stinging Jinx- the latter being from me.

The twins and I made sure to step on Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy as we stepped into the compartment.

We all were in the middle of Exploding Snap, when Harry asked us about who we were blackmailing. I had almost forgotten about our letter to Ludo Bagman. The twins and I exchanged dark looks.

"It's nothing. We've given up." I said.

But Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept pestering. Eventually Fred told them about how Ludo Bagman gave them leprechaun gold after Fred and George had won a bet against him.

Hermione asked if it was simply a mistake. All three of us laughed bitterly. "Ludo Bagman is in all kinds of trouble with the betting thing; even some goblins are after him." I said a bit harshly. I really didn't want to be reminded of how the twins had lost all their savings, and our dream of opening a business had been crushed.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron now noticed we didn't want to talk about it, so we continued with Exploding Snap.

King's Cross Station soon came into view, and Ron and Hermione left the compartment first, leaving the still unconscious Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy.

Before the twins and I left, Harry said, "Fred-George-Ami, wait a moment." I turned around, and a sack of coins was thrust into my arms. It was Harry's winnings from the Tournament. He told us to take it.

"What?" We all said at the same exact time.

"Take it. I don't want it."

"You're mental. There's got to be a thousand Galleons in here," George said, taking the sack and handing it back to Harry.

Harry said again for us to take it.

"He is mental." Fred said.

"Very mental." I said. But there was a part of me that was already dreaming of all we could do for Weasley Wizard Wheezes with those Galleons.

At this point, Harry took out his wand, and told us he would hex us if we didn't take it. None of the three of us was really worried about Harry hexing us, but we still consented.

Fred was now carrying the bag. "A thousand Galleons," he kept whispering in awe.

"And don't forget-you two can use magic outside of Hogwarts now." I said to the twins.

They smirked at each other, and then smiled mischievously back at me.

Oh this would be a fun summer.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: Number 12 Grimmauld Place**

**Just cause I haven't said this in a while: I do not own anything Harry Potter. The only thing that's mine is Ami.**

I sneezed, still not accustomed to the excessive amount of dust in my new room. Fred and I sat on the old, creaky bed and George sat on the most hideous rug I had ever seen. Our summer had not been as fun as we had planned. With Voldemort back, the Order of the Phoenix was starting up again. The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society of wizards and witches who fought against Voldemort in the first war, and would do so again in the war that was sure to come. The Order's new hideout was an old apartment on Grimmauld Place, which used to be home to Sirius Black (who was also staying at the house). My aunt Tara and Fred and George's parents were all in the Order, so we had to stay here as well.

Several pieces of parchment lay in front of me, all containing vital information to the opening of our business. We had taken a special visit to Diagon Alley earlier in the summer, and found a near perfect spot for Weasley Wizard Wheezes. We had already contacted all the real estate agents, and now there was just a matter of purchasing-and telling Mrs. Weasley-and the place would be ours.

George lazily played with his wand and pointed it at me. He made my hair fly in all different directions, and I threw my pillow at him. Both of the twins laughed. I had become used to this sort of thing- now that Fred and George can use their powers outside of Hogwarts; they had been messing with me all summer.

I was about to throw another pillow at George when I heard the yelling. I recognized the voice immediately. "Looks like Harry is going through a mid-life crisis." I said seriously. Fred smirked at me, and before I could say another word, he said, "See you in Ron's room," and they both Apparated.

I sighed and slumped over to Ron's room across the hall as the floor creaked below me. I opened the door to find Harry looking angry, but surprised to see me and the twins. Ron and Hermione were there as well.

"Could you talk a bit louder, Harry, dear? Some people in France didn't quite hear you." I said to him, referring to the yelling. He glared at me and I said quickly, "But good to see you."

Harry huffed irritably, but seemed to calm down a bit, leaving the twins and I still wondering what he was yelling about.

We told Harry that Bill and Charlie had recently joined the Order, and that Snape was in it as well. Then Harry asked about Percy.

Ron, the twins, Hermione, and I exchanged tense looks. Percy had recently become The Minister of Magic's Junior Assistant, and as the Minister still didn't believe that Voldemort was back, this didn't go over well with the Weasley family. "Don't mention Percy to Mum or Dad," was what we said to Harry.

Mrs. Weasley called and said that we could come downstairs now and have dinner. During most of the time we had spent in Grimmauld place, we 'children' had been stuck upstairs while the Order held their meetings. But thanks to a new invention by the twins and I called 'Extendable Ears,' we heard some of what was going on at the meetings.

I still had some of the Extendable Ears in my pocket as we went down for dinner. There was still a crowd of wizards bustling out of the kitchen- some of them I recognized. One of them was Nymphadora Tonks, who I had met at the beginning of summer, and was at Grimmauld Place a lot.

I sat down at the dinner table next to Ginny. I heard a clank of pots and pans and Mrs. Weasley yelling. Fred and George had bewitched a few different pots and a breadboard to fly over to Mrs. Weasley. There was a liquid that looked like butterbeer all over the ground. I couldn't help but laugh, and saw that Harry and Sirius Black were laughing too. Mrs. Weasley screamed at the twins that they needed to learn responsibility and didn't need to use magic every two seconds.

When Fred and George sat down next to me, I muttered, "Your mother is really fighting for a lost cause. You two are beyond saving."

"Preach it, sister." George said to me.

Dinner was excellent, of course. But halfway through our meal, I noticed Tara sitting a few seats down from me. Next to her was Sirius. It was the first time I had seen them together this summer. They were laughing and talking and I didn't like it. I didn't care if they had once been in love or something, they didn't need to be all flirty at the dinner table.

The mood changed from awkward to even more awkward when Harry brought up Voldemort. I knew the adults did not want Harry to know about what was going on, and Sirius seemed to be the only one willing to tell him anything.

Sirius began to say something when Fred said loudly, "How come Harry gets his questions answered? He's not even of age."

George said, "We've been asking all summer, but no! 'We're too young. We're not in the Order.'"

The twins yelling was overpowered by Mrs. Weasley's yelling, who was extremely angry that Sirius was talking to Harry about Voldemort. Sirius and Mrs. Weasley went back and forth, arguing. It was actually quite entertaining.

But when Mrs. Weasley mentioned something about Sirius not knowing how to look after Harry, since he's been in Azkaban for twelve years, Sirius got out of his chair. Remus Lupin-who used to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and was part of the Order- stepped in and said he thought Harry should know.

Mrs. Weasley was bright red. She yelled, "Fine. Ron-Hermione-Ginny-Ami-Fred-George, upstairs _now._"

Fred and George argued that they were of age. I argued that Fred and George would tell me what had happened anyway. Rona and Hermione argued that Harry would tell them too.

Eventually, Mrs. Weasley let all of us except Ginny stay.

All I got out of the meeting was that Voldemort has a new, more powerful weapon that he is after, before Mrs. Weasley made us go to bed.

I listened to Fred and George grumble about not being let into the Order, even though they were of age, all the way back to my room. "Please," I said. "What could you two contribute to the Order? It's not like you're going to defeat You-Know-Who with jokes about his lack of a nose and ridiculous humor."

Fred scoffed, "Don't forget our undeniable charm and wit."

I rolled my eyes. "Goodnight boys," and I shut the door on them.

An owl was waiting on the windowsill in the room I shared with Hermione and Ginny. I took the piece of parchment from its leg. Inside was a letter written in beautiful handwriting. It was from Fleur Delacour. She told me she was now living in England and was working at Gringotts Bank. Apparently, she worked with Bill Weasley- Fred and George's brother. She also said her English had gotten much better, thanks to help from Bill. I grinned to myself as I read how she wrote on and on about Bill- how he was a very nice boy, had great hair, et cetera. Fleur closed the letter, saying she was still looking into taking swimming lessons, and would like to seem e soon.

Hermione and Ginny came in as I was finishing my letter in reply to Fleur.

"It seems you might be getting a new edition to your family soon, Gin." I said to Ginny.

"Really?" Ginny said casually, flopping on her bed. "Did Fred propose or something?"

I chuckled, "No. It'll be a French one."


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41: Petty Prefects**

"You're telling her."

"No you're telling her."

"George, you tell her."

"No you tell her."

"She'll murder me."

"She'll murder us."

"What if we just didn't tell her?"

There was a pause. "She'd murder us. Then slit our throats again. Just to be sure." Fred said finally.

I sighed, "Well what if we just told your mum once everything was said and done? Then she'd have to support us. Especially when she saw how great our business will be."

The twins pondered that. "Alright. We can try," George said. "But what will she say when we still have to live at the house because we have nowhere to stay?"

"We're looking into that. Isn't that space next to where we want the shop to be available? We can ask if it's in-errr- livable conditions." I said.

Fred nodded slightly, and then brought up something I had been debating for the past three months: "Are you going to stay at Hogwarts? Through your seventh year, I mean."

I looked down and blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. "I don't know yet," I said quietly.

"What else do you need at Hogwarts, after this year? You already have a job, probably a place to stay, and you're already pretty well off when it comes to magical skill and what not." Fred said, earnestly.

"Ya," I mumbled. I tried to change the subject, "So the WonderWitch line, I think we should definitely add the long-lasting eyelashes…"

"We could always test those on Kreacher." George said with a laugh, referring to the grouchy house-elf that lived at Grimmauld Place.

By lunch time, we were all waiting for Harry to return. He had gone to a hearing today at the Ministry of Magic, to see if he would be expelled from Hogwarts or not. Apparently he had used a spell against dementors that were in his neighborhood, and he needed to plead his case.

"6 Sickles he gets cleared," I whispered to George.

"You're on. The Minister hasn't really been taking a liking to Harry lately." George said to me. This was true-ever since Harry had said Voldemort returned, people all over the Ministry were becoming suspicious of Harry and Dumbledore.

I almost jumped out of my chair when-about ten minutes later- a voice behind me said, "Cleared."

We all hugged Harry. I winked at him, "Good job, Harry," just as George was glumly handing me six Sickles.

I really don't know how this started, but at some point the twins and I were dancing around the room singing, "He got off, he got off, he got off , he got off!" We did this until Mrs. Weasley began to yell at us.

I later found myself stuck in a conversation with Hermione. She was going on about "S.P.E.W." or the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, after I had set off a Dung bomb in Kreacher's sleeping area. Apparently Hermione had recently created this society, and was now talking on and on about its importance and how she wanted to make badges and how I should really be listening to what she was saying. She was probably right about the last part.

At one point, I interrupted her: "Listen Hermione, I love you. But this is a bit overboard. And I'm sorry, but I won't wear a "SPEW" badge."

Just then Fred and George Apparated next to me, making me stumble slightly. "What she means to say, Hermione," Fred began, "is that she would love to wear a badge, and would even support your little spew thing. But for a small cost."

"How would you like "S.P.E.W." to be an official sponsor of Weasley Wizard Wheezes?" George asked.

"Oh no you don't." I said, grabbing the twins' arms and pulling them away.

"You know where to find us, if you're interested!" Fred called.

We found ourselves in Ron and Harry's room. We discussed who would be the next Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, as the last four have either been killed, lost their memory, got fired, or been locked in a trunk for months. The last one was Mad-Eye Moody, who actually wasn't Mad-Eye Moody, but someone disguised as Mad-Eye Moody and- I'm still confused.

Fred began to say something when Ron gasped. He was holding a letter from Hogwarts.

"Are they kicking you out too, Ronald?" I asked as Fred took the letter and gasped as well.

"_Prefect?" _

" _Ron's a prefect?" _

"Who in their right mind would make Ron a prefect?"

We all examined the red and gold badge that had been sent to Ron. It had a big letter "P" on it.

Hermione dashed into the room, carrying an identical badge. She looked at Harry, who was now holding the badge. "I knew it! You're one too, Harry! I knew it!" Hermione exclaimed.

I coughed awkwardly. Harry said, "No. It's Ron. Not me."

Hermione turned red and congratulated Ron awkwardly. The door opened again, and this time Mrs. Weasley was the one to come in. She shrieked loudly when she saw his badge. "Ronnie- a prefect! That's everyone in the family!"

I raised an eyebrow at Fred and George, "Guess you two have officially been disowned."

"Ya, what are Fred and I- next door neighbors?" said George, but his mother ignored him. I tried to hold in my laughter as Mrs. Weasley showered Ron with hugs and kisses. Fred and George pretended like they were vomiting.

"'Little Ronnie! A little baby prefect!" I said when Mrs. Weasley left.

"Shut up." Ron said.

"Or what? Going to put us in detention?" Fred said.

Hermione stood up for Ron, saying he could very well put us in detention now that he was a prefect.

Now I couldn't contain my laughter. "Oh no!" Fred said mockingly.

"Looks like our law-breaking days are finally over," said George.

"Now with Ronnie and Hermione on the loose." I said.

Still laughing, Fred and George Disapparated. I rolled my eyes and followed after them on foot.

"Congrats Ron," I said on my way out.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42: The Lady in Pink**

"I'll meet up with you." I said, vaguely to Fred and George and Lee as we and all the other Hogwarts students left the train to get to the carriages. I had spotted Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Neville with a girl I hadn't met before, but she looked familiar.

Fred gave me a puzzled look, but the three boys went to find their own carriage as I caught up with my other friends. "Mind if I catch a ride?" I asked, hoping into the carriage. The girl I didn't know sat across from me. She had blond hair and giant eyes that made me feel like she was looking deep inside of me. She had a happy, mysterious smile as she set aside a colorful magazine.

Looking back on it, I really didn't know why I had gotten into that carriage. It was something about the girl. I felt like I was drawn to her, in some weird but hopefully not creepy way.

Ron addressed me, "Err- this is Loon-I mean- Luna Lovegood. Luna, this is Ami." He gave me a look, like I was supposed to know something. A switch went off in my head- I had heard of this girl. But I had heard of her by a different name: _Loony_ Lovegood. Some Ravenclaws had commented about her oddness to me before.

Luna Lovegood smiled dreamily at me, "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure." I responded, warily.

"Ami…," Luna pondered. "Is Ami a nickname for something?"

"Ya, Amelia."

"Hm," the blond girl said. "I like Amelia. It's more colorful."

I threw a look at Hermione, who responded with an exasperated expression.

Hermione, Ron, Harry, Neville, and I had to endure Luna's talk all the way up to the castle. She babbled about something called Nargles and Wrackspurts and a creature that she said was the exact color of my hair and the necklace she had just made-which looked like assorted vegetables on a string. I noticed Ron out of the corner of my eye trying to stifle his laughter during the whole ride.

I came upon a realization as I was exiting the carriage. Some students called out to Luna, "What's up Loony?" and "Had a good summer, Loony?" I realized I was angered by those comments. Sure, Luna was a bit weird. Maybe more than a bit weird. But what had she ever done?

I found myself muttering to Luna, "Don't listen to them."

Luna smiled again at me, "Oh it's alright. It's good for them to express their opinions."

I stared at Luna as she skipped off, and was left wondering if maybe Luna knew something that the rest of us didn't about life.

I slid into my seat in the Great Hall next to Fred, who had already begun to eat. "Enjoy your carriage ride?" He asked through a mouthful of food.

"Very much so, actually." I added as a side note, "It was nice to be with people who had _proper table manners."_

Fred rolled his eyes.

After Dumbledore finished his closing speech, a lady dressed head to toe in pink stood up from the professors' table. Her name was Professor Umbridge, the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Unorthodoxly, Umbridge began a speech. After about her seventh word, I could almost feel my eyes glaze over. I idly turned my attention to the pudding in front of me. I caught a couple words from her speech- something about keeping old traditions but also changing them. Fred and George looked like they were getting even less out of it than I was.

I looked up when I heard clapping. Dumbledore was about the only one in the room to be clapping as Umbridge sat back down.

Hermione a few seats down looked nervous, but most other students at the Gryffindor table looked bored.

"Well doesn't she seem like loads of fluffy pink fun?" I asked sarcastically.

Fred scoffed, "Sounds like Pinky needs a little taste of how the Weasley twins do things around here."

"As well as their precious little sidekick," George said looking at me.

"'_Precious little sidekick?!_' Are you kidding- you two are just the handsome little faces of this operation. We all know where the brains are." I retorted.

"'Handsome, huh?" Fred winked at me.

"Oh I was talking about George." I said, smiling mischievously.

"We will be following a carefully structured, theory centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year." Umbridge said, addressing our class while smiling that stupid little smile that I was already tired of.

Hermione and I looked at each other at the same exact time, both of us wearing astonished, annoyed looks.

Umbridge went on to say we would not ever be using defensive spells, as we would never use them. We would only learn about them in a safe, risk-free environment. This caused an outburst.

"Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice spells?"

"If we're going to be attacked, it won't be a risk free environment!"

I was so shocked and angry that all I said was, "That's stupid!"

Umbridge scolded us all for not raising our hands before we spoke.

Then Harry brought up Voldemort. And Umbridge stared coldly down at Harry, "Ten points from Gryffindor."

Harry and Umbridge still went back and forth until Harry ended up with a detention and was sent out of the classroom. We all stared shocked as Harry stormed out of the classroom.

Umbridge instructed us to open our books back up. I couldn't take it anymore: "_Are you kidding me?!_" I screamed.

I didn't give Umbridge a chance to respond. "Harry just brought up probably the best possible reason for why we _need _to use defensive spells! And apparently you and your Ministry façade are too stubborn and idiotic to realize this! It's like you've had your giant head buried in a hole for the past three months!"

I took a deep breath. I knew what was in store for me even before Umbridge- who was very red- told me coldly that I also had detention and was to be sent out.

I had had large outbursts like these before. Maybe _sometimes_ Snape didn't deserve it, and sometimes those not-so-smart people didn't deserve it, but this lady sure as hell deserved it.

I slammed the door on my way out.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43: Blood Ink**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. We just had finals at my school, and then I went on a vacation. Hope you guys are having a good start to summer!**

Umbridge had given me detention for the whole weekend, starting on Friday night. It could've been worse: If the lady had had a brain, she would've given me detention on Quidditch nights, which started on Monday.

I walked slowly to Umbridge's office, and had to take in a breath as I entered the small room. It was pink. Everywhere. It was also lacy and girly and just plain _fluffy. _ I didn't think a room could be described as 'fluffy.' Umbridge sat at her desk drinking tea, and told me in a sweet voice to sit down.

A piece of parchment and a quill lay in front of me. This meant that for the next few hours I would be writing lines. I reached down for a bottle of ink in my bag, when Umbridge said, "Oh you're using my special quill, darling. You won't need any ink."

I eyed her suspiciously, "What I am to write?"

"Hm. How about, 'I must not speak out.'" She said.

I blew the hair out of my eyes as I leaned down to begin writing. The quill felt strange to write with, as it scratched the parchment roughly.

After a few lines, I found myself gritting my teeth. There was a sharp pain in my right hand. I shook it out a few times before resuming writing; I assumed it was a hand cramp.

I must not speak out… I must not speak out… I must not speak out.

A small noise escaped from my lips. The pain in my hand was getting increasingly worse, so I set down my quill and examined it. I tried to keep the shocked look off my face as I stared at my mangled hand. It was bleeding badly, and scratched into the flesh were the words, "I must not speak out."

Umbridge gave out a small cough. "Is everything alright, dear?"

A hot rage boiled up inside me. _This was absolute madness. _Umbridge was a psychopath.

"Perfectly fine," was all I said, and I continued writing.

My teeth began to hurt almost as much as my hand did, since I was gritting them so much out of pain. But I continued to not say anything, even though all I wanted to do was burst into tears. By the time I reached the bottom of my page, the lettering on my hand had dug in very deep.

"That is enough for tonight." Umbridge said with a smile. I did not say a word as I left that horrid room, clutching my hand.

The next two nights were worse than the first. The scar on my hand would start to heal, just to be opened up again as I wrote those five words over and over again.

I finished my last line on the last night, and my hand was searing with pain. I was out of Umbridge's office before she had even finished dismissing me. I cursed myself for that later, because I didn't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction of causing me pain.

I practically sprinted to the common room, where I saw Fred and George playing a game of Exploding Snap.

"How was detention with the old hag?" George asked casually.

"Fine. It was only lines again." I said quickly. I didn't want to tell them what had happened because I knew if I even began to discuss it, I would start to bawl. And I didn't want to look weak.

Fred asked if I wanted to play, but I declined. I noticed him looking at my hands, which were resting on the table. I quickly sat on my bleeding hand to keep it from showing.

My mind drifted away from the game quickly. It felt like whenever I closed my eyes, all I saw was, "I must not speak out." I thought about that stupid phrase. It felt almost against my nature to say it, or believe it. Speaking out for what I believed in was what Tara had always told me as a kid. And, if you couldn't tell, speaking out was a trademark of mine.

Fred snapped me out of my thoughts. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Big day tomorrow, right?"

I rolled my eyes at this. He was referring to Quidditch tryouts, which the three of us had no need to be worried about.

I stood up with him and reached to grab my bag from the back of the chair. I stumbled as Fred snatched my right hand and pulled me toward him.

"What is this?! 'I must not speak out.' " He exclaimed, holding up my hand roughly. George was behind me now.

"It's nothing." I said harshly, pulling my hand back. Fred put his hand under my chin, and made me look up at him.

"Tell us." He said softly.

I spoke very quietly, "It was Umbridge. She has this quill and…"

Fred and George looked absolutely outraged.

"That evil old toad!" George shouted, followed by him describing Umbridge with a series of foul adjectives.

"We'll go tell Dumbledore about this, and get her fat butt out of Hogwarts!" Fred said.

"She's from the Ministry, remember? I doubt Dumbledore can sack her that easily. And I don't want to give her that satisfaction." I said firmly.

The twins both knew there was no swaying me, and they stomped to their dormitories, still grumbling angrily.

I bit my lip nervously as I gazed at the poor students who had shown up at Quidditch tryouts this year. Fred and George next to me also looked a bit less than thrilled. Most of the positions had already been filled up with the returning players, and Angelina Johnson was our new captain, but there was still one crucial spot yet to be filled. The Keeper. Oliver had graduated last year, and he was probably the best Keeper at the school. It was unlikely we would find someone as good as him, especially among the crowd that had showed up to try out for the spot.

Angelina looked nervous as well. She reluctantly had us run some drills with the Keepers.

Out of the group of fifteen or so who had come, there were only a few decent Keepers. I didn't keep track of who they were until I noticed a boy with red hair catching the Quaffle that Katie had attempted to throw through the goal post. It was Ron.

Once it had gotten dark, Angelina called us in. She looked a bit depressed as we discussed who should join the team.

"I hate to say it-but Ron was probably the best one out there." I said.

"Yes, but he's not very consistent." Angelina countered.

"Well no one out there was, unless you counted the first years who _consistently _missed the Quaffle."

"And Ron comes from a family of good Quidditch players." Katie pointed out.

"Well, if you don't count Fred." George said.

"Fine. Fine. Ron, then?" Angelina finally said after a bit more debating.

The team nodded in agreement. And we had our Keeper.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44: Dumbledore's Army**

Hermione had told me and the twins to meet her in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. She had said something about forming a Defense against the Dark Arts club. It sounded like a pretty good idea, since the old bat Umbridge hadn't taught us anything.

Fred, George, and I joined about twenty other students-from a variety of Houses, excluding Slytherin-in the old pub. I had never liked the pub, it was old and smelly and the only worker there creeped me out.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in last. Harry addressed the large crowd in front of him nervously. He began a small speech, with help from Hermione, about teaching them defensive spells and how to prepare for real world battles. I shuddered when he mentioned fighting Voldemort and his followers. The prospect of doing so seemed to draw closer and closer by the day.

Then a girl, Susan Bones, brought up the subject of Harry producing a full Patronus. I had heard this before from Ron and Hermione; Harry's Patronus was a stag. Susan's declaration led to others in our group asking Harry about his other exploits.

Harry looked even more nervous as the students questioned and praised him. He kept saying he had done all those things with help. A boy, Zacharias Smith, seemed to be angry with Harry's reluctance.

"Well, we've all turned up to learn from him, and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it," Zacharias said.

George asked if he wanted us to clean out his ears for him. I liked that idea. I glared at Smith and said, "Well go ahead and have a duel with Harry. We'll see how well he can _really_ do it."

Hermione settled us down and gave us a few more instructions on where to meet and when.

Then came the task of choosing a name. I volunteered the' U.A.F.U.H.A.' which is short for 'Umbridge's A Fat Ugly Hag Association. No one seemed really keen on that idea. We eventually decided on D.A. for Dumbledore's Army.

Hermione said, "Well then, if you all could please sign this parchment. It will serve as a sort of contract, saying that you will keep the group a secret."

I eyed a few people around me, wondering if any of them would dare reveal the group. I was particularly suspicious of that Zacharias Smith.

I signed my name in cursive below Fred and George's.

"Get your Skiving Snackboxes right over here! Sweet Treats to make you sick!" George called out animatedly as groups of students began crowding around us. The Skiving Snackbox was a new product of ours, and after testing them on the twins first, we were ready to start selling.

**(A/N: I don't know why that extra line appeared above ^^, but this next section occurs immediately after the previous one. There isn't supposed to be a break. Sorry)**

"All sorts of varieties. Whether you feel like a good Nosebleed Nougat or a Puking Pastille, there are sweet treats for anyone looking to get out of class!" I exclaimed, handing a little second year a piece of the candy.

We were soon swarmed with people. I was surprised at how many boxes we sold before Hermione yelled at us (She was not very fond of the Skiving Snackboxes, and thought we were setting a bad example). We didn't have very many boxes ready to sell, but we got a lot of people signed up for Pre-Order.

I hugged Fred and George excitedly, and felt as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. People actually liked our products. There was hope that Weasley Wizard Wheezes could actually do well. I broke away from the twins when I heard the crying. In a corner just behind us sat a little boy-probably no older than a third year-clutching his hand. I knew with a sickening feeling the reason for his tears. I grabbed Fred's hand as I went over to the boy.

I knelt down next to the boy and touched his face lightly. He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.

"It's okay. It only hurts for a little while." I said softly, taking his hand. The lettering on his hand read, 'I must not fool around.'

The boy looked away from me, his face turning red. "You know what?" I said to him. "Fooling around is one of life's greatest pleasures. And don't let anyone-especially not that evil toad- tell you otherwise. Okay?"

I noticed a smile creeping up on the boy's face. Fred and George knelt beside me.

"Hey kid, remember-what goes around comes around. But if karma's too slow, revenge always works too." George said. I elbowed him.

"Here. Have a few Fainting Fancies. On us." Fred said, giving him some of our candies.

The boy took them nervously, before giving me a last smile of gratitude and running off.

"You're a pretty good therapist, Ami." Fred said teasingly.

"Ya sure. At least I'm better than George, though."

A cluster of students crowded around a wall in the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George pushed past a few people and I slipped through the crowd after them. On the notice board was a new sign, from none other than my favorite teacher, Umbridge, who had also recently appointed herself the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. What does that mean? She gets to wear a fancy pin and we get even less freedom.

The sign basically stated a new rule: all clubs or groups at Hogwarts were to be disbanded unless they had Umbridge's approval. After reading the sign, the twins and I exchanged nervous looks. I mouthed, "She knows." The rule must have been about the D.A., but how Umbridge had known about it so quickly, I didn't know.

Without another word, I grabbed Fred's hand-or it could've been George's, I didn't look- and sprinted to the Great Hall. I needed to find Hermione.

While we were running, I literally crashed into Angelina, who was running the opposite direction.

"The rule said _teams _too!" Angelina exclaimed. When she saw our confused looks, she said, "We have to get Umbridge's _permission _to continue Quidditch!"

"She wouldn't." George said.

"Oh, she would." I said angrily. I half expected Umbridge to begin throwing students in a pit of crocodiles for misbehaving from now on, at the rate that she was going.

Angelina told us not to misbehave around Umbridge, so she would let us keep the Gryffindor team. She was right, even though all I wanted to do was slip poisonous frogs down the back of Umbridge's cardigan.

The twins and I got to the Great Hall, where Ron, Harry, and Hermione were eating breakfast. We swarmed them immediately.

"How could she find out?!"

"Did someone tell?"

"Are you still doing it?"

The three sitting down looked at the three of us. Hermione raised a mischievous eyebrow at me, which was new for her.

"Of course we're still doing it."


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: Educational Decrees**

Shirts were to be tucked in…Students must show their hands while wearing robes… Boys and girls must stay six inches apart… No un-educational toys…No toys or games of any sort…No reading the Quibbler…No Weasley Products.

By that last 'Educational Degree' made by Umbridge, I was ready to explode. The awful sign that read, "All Weasley Products shall be banned immediately," haunted me every time I walked by it in the common room.

But no need to worry. The twins and I found a way to get around that little rule. Our products were still sold around the school, in secret, but were known as Coy products, just to be safe. It was nice to get a little recognition.

None the less, I once again stared at the Gryffindor notice board one morning with a sad expression. I felt so powerless against Umbridge. I hadn't completely stopped acting out, and the scars on my hand were there to prove it, but I couldn't take the torture much longer.

A hand touched my shoulder. Fred stood behind me, also looking solemnly at the wall. I sighed, leaning my head against him. "Just a bit longer, love," he whispered.

A bit longer. A bit longer of what? Of Umbridge? Of the detentions? Of Hogwarts? I didn't know. I still hadn't decided if I would leave Hogwarts before my graduation to work at the joke shop with the twins. But the way Fred spoke to me so confidently…It made me want to believe that things would get better soon.

I gave Fred a small smile. He took my hand and led me out of the common room. We wandered the castle silently hand in hand for a long time.

"The first D.A. meeting is tonight." I said casually.

"Maybe Harry will teach us something that will put Umbridge in her place," Fred said darkly. Then he added, "How about we head down to the kitchens and grab a snack?"

I told him I wasn't hungry. "I probably should go back to study. I have my O. to study for," I said in an imitation of Umbridge's annoyingly sweet voice.

Fred gave me a sly smile, and slowly started walking closer to me, at the same time pushing me toward the wall. "You could go study…or you could stay here and study with me."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "And study what exactly?" I said quietly, moving my face closer to his.

Fred put his hand on the wall, "Me."

I smiled into the kiss. We moved in perfect rhythm together. I ruffled his hair with my hands as we kissed, before placing them around his neck. I slowly brushed the back of his neck with the tips of my fingers.

I laughed as Fred gave out a small growl, and coiled my leg around his. I kissed him again and- OUCH!

The back of my head slammed against the wall, but not the wall I was just leaning against- it was a wall across the hall. I slowly stood up and saw Umbridge standing between Fred, who had been slammed against the opposite wall. She was smiling evilly, her wand raised.

"Boys and girls must not be closer than six inches, and will not show public displays of affection," Umbridge purred.

I rubbed the back of my head and spat, "Jealous, Dolores? I doubt you've had that much affection since the 18th century." I only half regretted saying this.

Umbridge's nostrils flared. "Another three weeks detention, I think, Miss Coy. And one week for you, Mr. Weasley- and tuck in your shirt, why don't you."

She tiptoed away, leaving Fred and me alone.

"You shouldn't have said that. You'll miss Quidditch practice." Fred said to me.

"Maybe I shouldn't have. But it felt pretty damn good."

"Well I'm sure it did. Because it was pretty damn awesome," he said grinning.

"Well umm. We'll start with the Disarming Spell first then. Grab a partner and practice on each other," Harry told us. We were in the middle of our first D.A. meeting, in the Room of Requirement.

Hermione was my partner. We used the spell on each other several times. Hermione did well, and I was actually doing pretty well too. I disarmed Hermione every time I attempted the spell, excluding the first time when I accidently disarmed Ron, who was practicing next to us.

After practicing _Expelliarmus _for quite a while, Hermione and I stopped to watch Harry go around the room helping students. It was funny to watch: Harry seemed nervous at first, but soon gained confidence as he critiqued people and they improved immediately after.

Next, Harry had us practice the Impediment Jinx, the Reductor Curse, and the Stunning Spell.

I was surprised to see how well Hermione and I did with all three spells. I couldn't help feeling proud as I executed the spells quite well. And I admittedly felt a bit prouder when Fred and George had a bit of trouble with the spells.

Hermione and I switched partners after executing the Stunning Spell. I went with Fred and she went with Ron.

"_Stupefy!" _I shouted at Fred, before asking if he was ready. I laughed as he fell backwards onto a cushion.

"I wasn't ready!" he protested.

"Fine. Are you ready?" I asked. He nodded and I immediately shouted, "_Stupefy!"_ Fred was once again knocked out.

I smiled at him. I heard Hermione next to me shout, "_Stupefy!"_ Ron was also knocked off his feet.

I went over to Hermione and laughed with her, when I was sent flying backwards. I felt dazed, but I wasn't completely knocked out.

Fred was now standing over me. "Gotcha," he said grinning.

"You didn't completely stun me, though, darling."

That wiped the smile off his face. I got up and kissed his cheek, "Love you."


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46: The Beginning and the End**

Every morning for the past few months I had visited the Owlery. The twins and I been keeping in contact with the owners of an apartment in Diagon Alley. So far, we had successfully purchased a space for the joke shop, but had yet a place to actually live in. The twins didn't seem real keen on the idea of staying with their mother.

There was a small little apartment that was practically next door to the space we had bought. Some folks lived in the upstairs area of the apartment, so we could live downstairs-once we made a few alterations.

I had decided to continue with my education at Hogwarts through my seventh year. There was much I wanted to learn, and Tara would feel better if I stayed. However, I wanted to stay at the joke shop during the summer and the holidays.

I walked up the steps to get to the large, circular room that had owls in every corner. The large spotted owl that I had used the last few times to send letters was waiting for me. He eagerly stuck out his leg and I took the letter from him, before stroking his head.

An owl behind me gave an irritated chirp. I turned around to find that this owl also had a letter for me, which I took from his leg.

I examined the letters. One of them was from the owner of the apartment building, the other one was from one of the assistants who we had hired to help open up the shop. Our future could be contained in these little letters, and I heard Fred's voice in my head, "Just a bit longer." I looked at the freshly bloody marks on my hand (I had finished my three weeks of detention with Umbridge last night), and Fred's phrase seemed to be more true than it ever had before.

I rushed to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was booming with excited voices already. I had almost forgotten about the Quidditch match today against Slytherin.

The twins were sitting down when I threw the letters on the table in front of them. "Open them!" I said excitedly.

Fred and George exchanged glances, before Fred opened the letter from the owner of the apartment. He hid it from our view at first, despite my protests. He read it silently and a wide grin began to appear across his face. "We got it."

I squealed with delight, and snatched the letter from his hand so George and I could read it. We got it. The apartment was ours. We had a home.

I hugged Fred and George tightly and then read the second letter. The assistant told us that everything was going smoothly. Almost all of the products we had made arrived at the shop, as well as the decorations. He only asked for us to visit the shop during Christmas break so we could evaluate how it looked.

I couldn't stop smiling. This was actually going to work. It had never felt more real. Fred and George looked like they felt the same way.

Angelina came over to us and told us to get in the locker rooms, which dampened our spirits. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could ruin this day.

Angelina spoke to us about the Slytherin lineup as we changed into our Quidditch robes. No one in the locker room seemed more nervous than Ron, who put his robes on backwards at first. It was Ron's first real Quidditch match, and let's just say that he isn't the most amazing Keeper to ever walk the Earth.

I pinned my hair back for the match, and bounced on the balls of my feet as Angelina continued her speech. She seemed to get more and more like Oliver Wood by the day.

Eventually she led us out to the Quidditch pitch, where I could hear the screams and shouts and singing from the students in the stands.

Madam Hooch had us mount our brooms. I clutched the top of my broom tightly and forgot all about the joke shop and the apartment. Right now, all I wanted to do was win.

The game begun with Angelina getting the Quaffle, but she got hit by a Bludger. The Slytherin Chaser took the Quaffle and-I winced- sent it straight past Ron through the goal post.

I heard the singing: _Weasley cannot save a thing; He cannot block a single ring, That's why we Slytherins all sing: Weasley is our King. _

I held my broom even tighter as I boiled with anger. I zoomed up to Angelina, who passed me the Quaffle. I got past the Slytherin Chasers and had a clear shot at the goal. I faked their Keeper out and shot the Quaffle in the left goal post.

It didn't get better for the Gryffindor team after my goal. Ron couldn't seem to save the goals if his life depended on it-which it did- and the new Slytherin Beaters had better aim than we thought they had.

I got hit with my third Bludger as I was about to pass to Angelina, and the Slytherin Chaser caught the Quaffle. I groaned and flew after him.

I heard cheering and thought the Slytherins were singing again, but it was the Gryffindor crowd who was singing this time. Harry had caught the Snitch! I let out a sigh of relief, but when I turned my broom to look for Harry, he was plummeting toward the ground.

The whole Gryffindor Team flew after him, but he hit the ground with a loud thud. When we reached Harry, he seemed alright but a bit shaken up. Fred told me it was Crabbe who hit him with a Bludger after Harry had caught the Snitch.

I saw Ron out of the corner of my eye going towards the locker room, leaving the celebration. A part of me was angry at him, but above all I pitied him.

I turned to congratulate Harry when I heard Malfoy's voice, "We wanted to write another couple of verses! But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly-we wanted to sing about his mother, see…"

It took me as second to realize he was talking about Mrs. Weasley, and it looked like Fred and George had not noticed his taunting either. Still, I threw a look at Angelina and jerked my head toward Malfoy-then towards the twins.

"We couldn't fit in 'useless loser' either, for his father you know." Malfoy sneered.

Fred and George had noticed Malfoy now. Angelina nodded at me, and I went to Fred as she went to George.

I took Fred's arm, which had stiffened. He had a dangerous look on his face, and began walking towards Malfoy.

"Fred- Fred, leave it. Just-Fred-leave it. He's a stupid git, just leave it." I tried to say to Fred.

I don't know why I stopped him, and why I didn't join him in fighting Malfoy. Maybe I was just done with getting my hand ripped to shreds. Or maybe I was just like a time bomb-and only had fits of anger on rare occasions.

"You like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter? Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you can stand the stink…" Malfoy continued.

It was becoming harder to hold on to Fred. "It's okay, just leave it. He's a sore loser. Fred-just stop. Fred listen to me."

Angelina seemed to be having more trouble with George, and Harry joined her in her attempts. Katie Bell joined me. Hermione had come down to the Quidditch pitch after the match, and was now coming to help me with Fred.

"Fred- forget him. Please-"I started.

I heard Angelina scream.

George had broken loose and he and Harry were now running towards Malfoy like two wild animals. They tackled him and an all-out brawl started. George and Harry were on top of Malfoy, and were punching him wildly.

"GEORGE-NO!"I screamed while Hermione screamed at Harry.

Fred struggled against our grip, but couldn't get to Malfoy since Angelina had come to help us as well.

Madam Hooch broke up the fight, revealing Malfoy with a bloody nose, George with a bloody lip, and Harry with a black eye. Harry and George were marched up to the castle as the crowd roared and jeered.

Malfoy was taken to the hospital wing, and when he was finally out of sight, I let Fred go. He was breathing hard, and his face was bright red. I put my hand on his chest. "Sorry." I said quietly.

"Thanks," was all he said to me.

The two of us went up to the castle after Harry and George. I held Fred's hand as we waited outside McGonagall's office while Harry and George were being spoken to. Fred seemed to calm down a little as we waited, but only a little.

Finally, Harry and George stumbled out of McGonagall's office, followed by Umbridge. They both looked horror-stricken.

Harry didn't say a word to any of us before he walked away. George looked at me, and then looked at Fred.

"Banned. You and Me. Banned for life."


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: Hospitals and Holidays**

Fred and George poked their dinner solemnly. Today, Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper had replaced the twins as the Gryffindor Beaters. They now apparently thought they were the greatest thing since Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and had decided to sit with us and the rest of the team at dinner. Fred and George gave them dirty looks whenever they got the chance.

Jack Sloper tried to put his arm around Angelina at one point. If looks could kill, Jack would drop dead, and be stabbed twenty times just for good measure from Angelina's look. He hastily took his arm away. I raised an eyebrow at Angelina, who rolled her eyes irritably.

She might have been still angry at me from today's tryouts. I had refused to run the drills with the hopeful Beaters and Seekers, and when I finally gave in, I didn't even try. I did try, however, to intimidate and mess up everyone who dared tryout for Fred and George's spot. I told Angelina that I would not fly with someone who had substandard skills, and was trying to take a spot that was not theirs to take. She said I wasn't being fair and should give them a chance.

But from the looks of it, she didn't seem very keen to 'give them a chance' either.

"I'm going to bed." I announced, and stormed off.

I tapped my finger against the arm of the chair, and blew the strand of hair out of my eyes. Today was the last day before Christmas break officially started, and I had my bags packed. But I hadn't seen Fred or George all morning. They were supposed to meet me in the common room, and we would board the train together and visit Diagon Alley to see the joke shop.

I was getting annoyed, and the train was close to leaving. Hermione finally came downstairs with her bag, and I jumped up to talk to her. "Have you seen Fred or George?"

"No," she said, looking confused. "I haven't seen any of the Weasleys all morning. Harry's gone too."

That got me worried. Harry was sort of prone to danger and adventure.

"We can ask McGonagall or Dumbledore if they've heard from them." Hermione said.

I nodded, and a lump started forming in my throat as I followed Hermione to McGonagall's office.

Professor McGonagall seemed surprised to see us. We told her about Harry and the Weasleys. From the look on her face, I could tell she knew something.

"_Please, _Professor. If you could just tell us that they're alright." I said pleadingly.

She sighed. "I'm only going to tell you two because I know you're so close with the Weasleys and Potter. Arthur Weasley was attacked last night, and he is now at St. Mungo's. We sent the Weasley children to him last night, and Harry went along because he-well- he _alerted_ us of the attack on Mr. Weasley."

Hermione looked worried.

"Well we should be there with them. We were going to stay with the Weasleys for the holidays anyway, and we want to visit Mr. Weasley in the hospital." I said firmly, and looked at Hermione for support. She nodded.

McGonagall looked skeptical. Eventually she said, "Alright. I'll contact Molly Weasley."

In no time, an escort had come from St. Mungo's, and we used the Floo Network to get to the hospital.

Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Ginny, and Harry were waiting for us in the lobby. Mrs. Weasley looked delighted to see us. She said, "Oh, finally. I was surprised Dumbledore didn't send you two with the children in the first place!" I grinned as she hugged me.

I ran up to Fred and George. Fred said, "I'm sorry. We wanted to come get you, but McGonagall wouldn't-"

"Why are you apologizing? Your dad's in the hospital. That's the only thing you two should be worrying about." I said.

Mr. Weasley was on the first floor, second door to the right. Or so the witch at the front desk told us. When we got to his room, Mr. Weasley smiled at us.

He didn't look very well, as he had several bandages on his face. But he seemed cheerful enough, and told us that he was recovering well and they'd find an antidote for his cuts soon enough. Also, when he talked about the attack, he talked about it like it was just as simple as getting a cup of coffee. He said he was working late, got attacked by a snake, and was bitten.

That didn't seem to be enough for Fred and George. They continued to ask their father questions about where he was, why he was working late, where the snake had gone. They seemed to think it had something to do with Voldemort's new weapon. Mrs. Weasley thought they didn't need to know these things, and sent us all out.

We left St. Mungo's shortly after to go back to Grimmauld Place, and told Mr. Weasley we would be back on Christmas Day.

Ginny shook me until I woke up. "OW." I said with more irritation than actual pain.

"Merry Christmas." Ginny said cheerfully. She hopped over to the bottom of her bed and began opening gifts. Hermione sat at the edge of her bed as well; she was holding a present, and was clearly waiting for me to get up before she opened it.

I slumped down next to my pile of presents and began to tear through the wrapping paper. I heard Ginny squeal with delight next to me as I took out a new scarf from Hermione. "It's lovely." I told her, and wrapped it around my neck.

I also received a book from Ginny entitled "Ride that Broomstick."

She said to me absentmindedly, "It's not about Quidditch."

Hermione gasped. I grinned and opened George's present: a pair of reindeer-shaped earrings that screeched/sung an annoying Christmas song whenever they swung back and forth.

I put them on, and immediately they screamed in a high pitched voice: "_We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas, WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!" _

"That will get annoying quickly." Hermione said.

Fred's present was a pretty anklet that changed colors in the sunlight. I smiled as I clipped it around my ankle. I noticed Ginny and Hermione smirking at me. "What?" I asked defensively.

"Oh nothing," Ginny said, grinning.

The Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, and I went to visit Mr. Weasley after breakfast like we promised. St. Mungo's was decorated with mistletoe and red and green lights. The lady at the front desk wore a red Santa Claus hat, and told us Mr. Weasley had been moved to a different ward.

On our way to his room, Fred said to me, "Um-Ami- why are you wearing the bracelet on your ankle?"

I laughed, "Really? Fred, that's an anklet. It's much too big for my wrist."

Fred's face turned red, making me laugh again. "It's okay, love. I needed a new _anklet_. And next year I'll get you socks that you can wear as mittens." I said.

"We'll at least I'm proud to say that, as a man, I do not know the difference between certain types of jewelry." Fred said.

George and Ron were laughing while Hermione and Ginny were giggling. Mrs. Weasley hushed us as we entered Mr. Weasley's ward. Our visit was brief, though, because Mr. Weasley announced that they would be using a Muggle procedure called stitches on his wounds, and Mrs. Weasley did not like that idea. We left the room as Mrs. Weasley started yelling.

We had three more days of holiday break, and the twins and I were spending them all in Diagon Alley at the joke shop.

The space for the shop was actually quite large-with three stories and extra storage rooms. When we walked through the doors, I didn't feel as happy as I thought I would. There were boxes everywhere and bits and pieces of decorations crudely thrown onto the walls.

"Well this is lovely, isn't it?" George said.

"Very." I said, tripping over a box.

We immediately got to work and unpacked the boxes. It was a lot of work to be done, and we probably wouldn't finish in three days, but it was a start.

"Hey guys?" I called. "Do you have the rest of the WonderWitch stuff? I only have half."

Downstairs I heard George yell back, "We haven't seen them yet!"

"We really need to tell that assistant girl to keep track of where she put everything."

"What's her name?" Fred asked.

"Venice or something." I said, pulling out a box full of our Explosive Enterprises.

"Verity!" George yelled back.

I rolled my eyes. I had the twins finish taking everything out of boxes, while I examined the blueprints we had made. I told them I would put the signs and labels up, and they could move stuff around accordingly. It still took longer for me to do my job, though, because I couldn't use magic.

"The Muggle stuff goes back near the counter, right?" George called.

I told him yes. We continued unpacking and fixing and decorating for the rest of the day. When the sun went down, we realized we probably should start unpacking and fixing and decorating the place where we would be sleeping.

The apartment we had bought was only one house down from Weasley Wizard Wheezes. There were no boxes in this space. Just walls and floor. George yawned and sat on the cold floor. "_Accio mattresses." _Fred mumbled. Our three mattresses from the Burrow appeared and the three of us slumped down on them and we instantly fell asleep. It had been a long day.

The next two days were exactly like the last. On the third day, we still had a whole list of things to do.

"So," I said, yawning. "We need to get a new color for the walls, add an extra room to the apartment, move all our stuff to the apartment, decorate the front wall, and…" I lost my train of thought. It had been a very tiring three days.

Fred chuckled and I took his arm as he Apparated back to the Burrow. George appeared shortly after us. We still needed to pack for returning to Hogwarts. Hermione had to help me, as I almost fell asleep a few times.

I had a pit in my stomach when the next morning came. I had never dreaded going back to Hogwarts before, but it was different with Umbridge in charge.

A part of me hoped that Umbridge had been fired over Christmas break, but when I saw her round face in the Great Hall after a long ride on the Hogwarts Express, my dreams were crushed.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can take of that pink sweater." Fred said darkly.

"Me neither." George and I said simultaneously.

_Just a bit longer. _


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48: Not the Only Weasley Twin**

Practically the entire school had watched Professor Trelawney be publically sacked by Umbridge, except for Hermione and me. We had been in the library finishing a partner essay for History of Magic. Neither of us really cared about Trelawney being sacked, since we had both quit her class, but we had missed Dumbledore introducing the new Divination teacher: Firenze the centaur. And now all any girl talked about was how _gorgeous _Firenze was.

There was a part of me that was really upset that I didn't get to see the gorgeous centaur.

But I got over it.

Today was another D.A. meeting, and Harry had promised we'd try the Patronus charm. So, we were all buzzing with excitement in the Room of Requirement before Harry arrived. I made a bet with George that I would get my Patronus before he did. Fred made a bet with Lee that I would win our bet.

Harry got us started soon enough. He instructed us to think of a happy moment as we were conjuring our Patronus.

The room soon became full of shouts of _'Expecto Patronum.' _Hermione was the first one to get a full Patronus. It was a pretty little silver otter. I noticed George created a ball of silvery light with his wand, and I immediately began to try harder. I was _not _going to lose this bet.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ I yelled, thinking of Fred and George's sixteenth birthday, the Yule Ball, and the first time I met the twins. My wand produced a silver ball similar to George's. I tried again. This time the ball formed into an oddly-shaped fish. The third time I tried, I got it. My Patronus was a small, shiny dolphin. When I moved my wand, it pranced around the room, flipping and squeaking with delight. It made me smile and laugh.

"Isn't it pretty George?" I said, showing off my dolphin Patronus.

"Dammit." He said, throwing me a Sickle.

Fred was laughing as Lee also gave him a Sickle. I looked around the room; a few others had gotten a full Patronus but not many. I spotted Harry talking urgently to a small house elf across the room. A few others had stopped to watch Harry and the house elf, and soon the whole crowd was listening in.

"Is she coming?" Harry asked the elf.

The elf screeched, "Yes!"

Harry froze, then looked at all of us. You could hear a pin drop in the room, before Harry shouted: "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!"

I didn't understand, until Fred grabbed my arm. "Umbridge." He said.

My eyes widened and we sprinted out of the Room of Requirement. I had a feeling we wouldn't be back there.

All the Gryffindors in the D.A. made it back to the common room safe and sound. Except for Harry. Go figure. We all waited anxiously through the night for Harry to return. Fred and George, who aren't good with waiting around for long periods of time, decided that they wanted to play a game.

"Any ideas?" Fred asked the small crowd.

"Exploding Snap?" someone asked.

"Ugh. No." I said. I was just about sick of that game.

"Wizard Chess?" No. "Gobstones?" No. "Dress-Up?" No. I think Ron came up with that last one.

"What about a Muggle game?" Lavender Brown asked.

Some people scoffed. Hermione, who had been pretty silent all night, said sarcastically, "Oh sure. What are we supposed to play- Seven Minutes in Heaven?"

A few guys smirked. Others raised their eyebrows. Some girls giggled. Apparently, a lot of people knew about this game.

Fred and George looked at me, grinning wickedly. I rolled my eyes, "Go ahead."

Hermione looked shocked. "I was only joking-you're not actually going to-are you?"

"Thank you for the wonderful idea, Hermione." I said, and Fred and George and Lee immediately began to set up the game.

"But-as a prefect, I cannot let you-" Hermione tried.

"Are you going to report us to _Umbridge, _'Mione?" I asked, pretending to look scared.

She glared at me, but sat down. Fred and George had created an extra closet in the common room, and Lee had bewitched a bottle for us to spin. All those who wanted to play, which was pretty much everyone minus Hermione, sat in a circle around the bottle.

I sat with the twins, and twiddled my fingers with Fred's as the game began. It was actually pretty interesting. Katie Bell went with Lee, to his delight. Seamus and Angelina went together. Dean and Parvarti went together. So did Ron and Lavender, and both of them came out blushing.

Finally it was my turn. I spun the bottle, it went around a few times, and came to stop almost right in front of me, but a little to the right. I slowly looked up to see who the bottle was pointing at.

It was George.

I felt my face grow hot. I didn't want to look at Fred. "Uh. I-er-well-" I started to say something.

But George was much smoother than I was. He rolled his eyes and laughed it off. "Might as well get this over with." He said, patting Fred's shoulder.

"Madam, if you please," George said, holding his hand out. I took it and followed him to the closet. I waved back at the circle of people before we went in.

I had gotten over being nervous. Now I was just upset that the bottle had pointed to George, because the next seven minutes weren't going to be very fun. Actually, I was upset that I had agreed to this game. I had a boyfriend, so no matter who I spun, it wouldn't be a very fun game for me.

I noticed George was staring intently at me. "Do you need something?" I snapped.

"Oh nothing," George said, "I was just promised seven minutes _in heaven, _and I wouldn't call this 'heaven.'"

"Are you kidding me, George? I'm dating your brother!"

"I wasn't suggesting anything that would question your decency. I was just saying that we didn't have to be silent for the next six minutes. Why- what did _you _think I meant?" George said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"God, you're annoying." I said, though I was laughing. We talked for a few minutes, but it seemed like longer. I realized I hadn't had a good, long conversation with George in a while. It was nice. He was really easy to talk to, almost easier than Fred.

"So you really like my not-as-handsome twin, huh?" George asked.

I looked down at my feet. "Ya I do."

"That's good. He's a lucky guy."

That made me look up at George. "You really think so?"

"'Course. You know I think you're great, Ami." George said.

I couldn't help it- I blushed. "Thanks, Georgie." I mumbled.

I didn't see him move closer to me, until I looked up and his face was just a few inches away from mine.

"Fred's not the only Weasley twin who cares for you, you know." George said quietly.

"I know-"

George took my face in his hands. My breath quickened. "Tell me not to." George whispered.

I didn't say a word, and his lips crashed into mine. Something wonderful stirred inside me. I wanted so bad for it to not be there, but I didn't want it to go away.

We broke apart from the kiss. I stared at George, not saying a word. Then the door opened.

Seamus and Fred stood there. "Time's up." They said.

George once again put on the nonchalant attitude. "Well that was fun," George said. He walked out without me. I rolled my eyes and followed him out. Fred looked at me expectantly.

"Your brother's a great kisser." I said to Fred. His eyes widened for a moment and he opened his mouth-

"Only joking." I said, taking his hand.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49: Of Age**

Neither I nor George spoke of that night. Nothing changed between Fred, George, and I. It was as if absolutely nothing happened. I started to think that George had forgotten about it. And I began to forget about it as well. It was better that way.

For Easter holidays, the twins and I were spending almost the whole week at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. There was a lot to be done, and now we had a deadline. Fred and George had told me they wanted to open it on the first day of summer. I didn't know how that could be possible, but then they told me their plan.

"With Dumbledore gone, what's the point of staying?" Fred had said. After the D.A. had been caught, Dumbledore had admitted to creating it, and instead of going to Azkaban, he ran off. Umbridge became the new Headmaster.

"There's no need for school anymore for us. We might as well just not go back. But we think Umbridge needs to have a bit of fun before we leave." George had said.

It made sense. Our plan was perfect. The only downside was I would have to stay. And that means facing the consequences of our little 'fun' trick.

"You really should just come with us. Umbridge will do all but murder you if we leave and you stay." Fred had said.

I knew that. But what could I do? O.W.L.s were coming up, and doing well on them was very important to me.

"Happy Birthday Eve." Fred said, kissing my cheek as I finished putting the Fever Fudges on display.

George said, "One more day, Ami, and you get to do this-"He waved his wand and shot red sparks in the air-"all you want." The sparks flew boxes on the third floor off their shelves.

"You're cleaning that up, Sparky." I said to George. He stuck his tongue out at me.

At lunch time, I made Fred and George lunch.

"I'll have chicken cordon bleu with mornay sauce." George said.

"You're getting grilled cheese." I said to him, and walked down over to our apartment. Our apartment looked much better. We had put some couches in the little living room, a small dining table in the pint-sized kitchen, and all three of our tiny rooms were completely done and decorated.

I had never made grilled cheese before, but Fred and George said they had had grilled cheese all the time when they were younger, and how hard could it be?

Our pantry had only a few bits of food in it, but it did have cheese and bread. I started the stove and put a plastic plate filled with cheese on top. Nothing seemed to happen at first, and then the plastic plate burst into flames.

"Damn." I said, and used the sink water to put out the fire. I looked around for something better to put the cheese in. I found a pan in one of the cupboards, and put that on the stove. I put the cheese in the pan, and it immediately began to melt. I quickly scooped it up with a spoon and threw it on the three pieces of bread. "_That should do it." _I thought.

I brought the sandwiches up to the joke shop. Fred and George took them eagerly, but their eager faces soon turned to disgust. "What is this?!" Fred said, throwing the sandwich back on the plate.

"Hey! I worked hard on those!" I exclaimed.

"They're just bread with melted cheese." George said.

"Ya, they're _grilled _cheese." I said, pouting.

That made Fred and George laugh hysterically. "Ugh!" I yelled at them. I picked up the sandwiches and began to throw them at the twins. I chased them around the shop, throwing the sandwiches at them.

They began fighting back, with whatever stuff they could find on the shelves. "Stop it!" I said, laughing, as I Fred hit me with a pile of Extendable Ears.

Our little fight ended with me making the twins pick everything up. We never ended up having lunch.

I was sitting on the counter in the center of the joke shop when George told us he was going to bed. We told him goodnight and Fred and I were left alone in the shop. Fred looked at his wrist, pretending to check his nonexistent watch. "Well, it's two hours to midnight, which means two hours before you turn 17 and two hours before you can use magic legally outside of Hogwarts."

"Yes, I'm aware," I said, taking his hand. He spun me around and kissed my cheek.

"Those shelves are pretty high." Fred said, nodding his head at the very high shelves on the third floor.

"Ya, and?" I said, looking up at him.

"If someone were to fall down from there, they'd be killed, yes?" Fred asked.

"Well, if you couldn't use magic, then ya." I said.

"Perfect." Fred said. A mischievous smile spread across his face.

"Fred-"I started, confused. But suddenly, Fred muttered, "_Wingardium Leviosa," _and I was being lifted into the air.

"FRED!" I shouted at him, as he lifted me higher in the air. "Fred! What are you doing?! Fred!"

He lifted me all the way up to the very top shelf that he had pointed out early. And I was stuck there. Sitting on that very high shelf.

"And what was the purpose of all this?!" I screamed down to Fred.

"Well, when midnight comes, you can use magic to get yourself down. And then you can kill me. Night, love." Fred said, grinning.

"What?! You're leaving me up here! Fred!" I called as Fred shut the lights off. "Fred!"

And then I was alone.

It was a very long two hours. I sat up there, tapping the wooden shelf, bored out of my mind. But I entertained myself with thoughts on how I would murder Fred. Finally, the clock-which I didn't even know we had- chimed twelve.

"Hm." I said, and pulled out my wand. I used a spell to get down back to the floor. And I ran to the apartment.

"Fred!" I screeched. _"Fred! _FRED!"

I ran into George's room first, threw a pillow at him, and said, "You're brother is a _git."_ He chuckled sleepily, and then I ran to Fred's room.

I jumped on top of him and began to slap him repeatedly with his pillow. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

He laughed, and easily threw me off the bed. But I said, "_Flipendo!"_ and Fred fell off his bed. George had come into the room now, and was also laughing.

I ran over to Fred, and grabbed his shirt in my hands. "You suck!" I yelled at him.

He was still laughing, but he pulled me into a kiss. I shoved him off.

"Well, before you kill me, don't you want your birthday present?" Fred asked.

I stuck my tongue out at him, but I didn't try to attack him again. Fred grabbed a box wrapped in blue paper from under his bed. I glared at him as I took it from him.

I ripped through the paper and tentatively opened the lid. Inside, was a round red ball. I picked it up. It was squishy.

A water balloon.

I raised an eyebrow at George, before giving Fred a playful look. I stood up, still holding the water balloon. I threw it as hard as I could at Fred.

The balloon hit him right in the face. Boom.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50: The Flight of the Twins**

Headmistress Umbridge had recently formed something called the 'Inquisitorial Squad,' which basically was a group of butt-kissing, power-hungry Slytherins who wanted to make everyone's lives even worse. They went about the school doing Umbridge's dirty work, like inspecting all the mail and taking away points from students for no apparent reason. Now Fred, George, and I were certainly not going to let their little jobs be easy.

Pansy Parkinson tried to take ten points from Gryffindor because she said my uniform was buttoned properly, I hung out with losers, my hair was unkempt, and I had insulted her Draco-poo for the past five years.

"Oh, Pansy, darling," I said in a pouty voice. "Do you really want to do that to me? Because it's obvious you're only being cruel to me because of your insecurities and jealousies. Poor dear."

She glared at me, and opened her mouth to say something, but I continued:

"You're obviously mocking my uniform buttoning because you're insecure about how your own uniform fits, and how everyone knows that it's at 2 sizes two small. Maybe 2 and a half. And the insulting of my friends? That's stemmed from your struggle to fit in with your own peers, and how you were reduced to following 'Draco-poo' around like his dog that he never wanted. Thirdly, you're pointing out how my hair is unkempt because you recently had a bad cut, leaving you with terrible split-ends and those ungodly bangs." I smiled at her, and patted her shoulder. "It's okay. We're here for you."

"Oh but you can take points away for insulting Draco. That was damn worth it." I said finally.

Her face had gone a deep, deep shade of red. She opened her mouth several times, trying to find something to say, but ended up just glaring at me and storming off. I took out my wand, and made one of the buttons on Pansy's cardigan fly off. All the other buttons immediately flew off on their own, proving my theory about her uniform being two small. "You might want to fix that, love!" I called after her.

Fred and George told me about a similar encounter they had had with a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. Montague also tried to take points from them, but never got to. They had pushed him into the Vanishing Cabinet before he finished his sentence. I knew the twins didn't care about getting in trouble anymore, as they would be making their grand departure from Hogwarts soon.

The first part of their plan to make Hogwarts chaos before they left was going to be set in motion today. I had my crate of fireworks set up in the West Wing, while Fred and George had theirs' in the North and South. I waited for the signal, which was George firing off his fireworks. This was going to be an excellent show, and we'd probably get some good business afterwards.

I heard the first explosions, and I set off my batch of fireworks, and ran. Behind me, I saw fireworks of all sorts of shapes go off. There were dragons, and bats, and broomsticks, and they were now loose in the castle. It was quite beautiful.

I ran to our designated spot, where Fred and George were already waiting. They had let loose a similar display of fireworks, and now Umbridge was desperately trying to get rid of them. However, because of a special trick _I _added, whenever she tried to Vanish them or Stun them, they'd get even larger. It was hilarious to watch.

Filch and Umbridge spent all day trying to get rid of them. Even during my classes were colorful dragons being herded out of the classrooms. McGonagall and the other professors didn't even try to get rid of them- they just waited for Umbridge. At one point, McGonagall was admiring the fireworks. "They really are quite excellent forms of magic. The creators must be quite talented." She looked at me when she said this, a hint of a smile forming on her face.

Surprisingly, we weren't caught. Umbridge had no proof we did it because we had not used our wands and she had destroyed them before she got the evidence. It was a huge success.

Especially at the Gryffindor common room. Everyone there thought we were heroes, and I must admit-it was nice. The twins and I got a load of orders for the fireworks. Even Hermione was pleased with us.

"Anything to get that old bag to go crazy." She had told me.

The Gryffindors had a mini party that night, but it didn't go on for very long, as most the fifth and seventh years had studying to get done.

But before bed, we got a hold of Harry. Ginny had told us that he needed help getting into Umbridge's office, to contact Sirius Black. And we had the perfect diversion. Well, _Fred and George _had a perfect diversion.

"Ready, love?" Fred asked me.

"As I'll ever be." I said. I really wasn't excited for today, because after this afternoon, Fred and George would no longer be at Hogwarts. And then my life would get two times lonelier.

"See you on the other side." Fred said and he kissed my cheek. I saluted George after hugging him.

"Good luck, boys. Make Umbridge cry." I said before they both sprinted away.

I sighed, before running to Filch's office. I couldn't do much with this prank, because there was no way we'd get away with a prank twice in one week. And if I was involved with this prank, Umbridge would make my life a living hell. Fred and George would only get away with it because they were leaving immediately after.

I made it to the hallway where Filch's office was located. I waited for the first screams to be heard, and for Filch to waddle out of his office in search of Fred and George. He seemed to be at a new level of angry, and he luckily forgot to lock his door. So, I slipped inside his office. Fred and George's broomsticks were on full display, locked up on the wall along with Harry's Firebolt.

"_Alohomora." _I muttered, and the chains fell right off of the two Cleansweeps. I figured I might as well give Harry his broom back as well, so I unlocked the Firebolt's chain and hid it in a bush outside the window. _"I'll get it later,"_ I thought.

I took the two brooms out of Filch's office, but I was just left them near the door. Fred and George wanted to make a big deal about summoning the broomsticks, and I couldn't be seen with them anyway.

I noticed a crowd of students running towards the corridor Fred and George had gone off to. I decided to join them and see what Fred and George came up with, even though I already knew what it was.

Our little group was stopped once we hit the larger crowd of students. I shoved my way to the front, and saw the large swamp that took up most of the corridor. Fred and George were standing proudly in front of it. Fred spotted me, and winked.

Umbridge was yelling at the twins, but they remained unfazed. Filch finally came and was muttering something about finally getting to use the 'whips.' I didn't like the sound of that. Filch also gave Umbridge a piece of paper.

She practically squealed with delight. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"No I don't think we are." Fred said, smiling at George. "I think we've outgrown full-time education."

George said he agreed, and together they shouted, "_Accio Brooms!"_

The two brooms I had placed outside Filch's office zoomed straight to the twins' hands.

They mounted their brooms simultaneously. "We won't be seeing you." Fred said.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch." George said.

Fred yelled to the crowd, "If anyone wants to buy a Portable Swamp, like this one, come to number 93, Diagon Alley. Weasleys'-"

"-and Coy-" George mumbled, looking at me.

"Wizard Wheezes! Our new premises!" Fred finished.

"STOP THEM!" Umbridge screeched. A few students stepped forward-probably from the Inquisitorial Squad- but Fred and George were already flying through the air on their brooms. They flipped around in the air for a bit, before Fred swooped down and gave me one last kiss good-bye. Some people cheered and catcalled.

Fred and George then flew off. Fred took one final look back and said, "Give her hell from us, Peeves." He was talking to the mischievous ghost who wandered the halls of Hogwarts. Applause followed the twins as they flew to the doors and were off.

And then they were gone.

I had never seen Umbridge so angry. Her chest was puffed out, her face had gone from bright red to a ghostly white, and her small chubby hands were clenched in fists. She glared at all the students in the crowd, one by one, until her eyes landed on me.

"_You!" _She growled. Then she looked at Filch, "Well, we don't have the _real _culprits, but at least we have their pretty little sidekick." The way she said this reminded me of the wicked witch in movies.

"'_Sidekick?!'"_ was all I said. There was no point in convincing Umbridge I had no part in this. I was done for.

"Come with me, dear." She said in the most evil way possible.

I was once again in that little pink room, with Umbridge staring at me wickedly.

"We have tried and _tried_ again to show you the wrong of your ways. But you continue to disobey me, your professors, and the laws of the _Minister _himself! And now your little stunt today is the last straw, Miss Coy. We'll have to resort to other methods of getting through to you." Umbridge leered.

"Technically, I didn't take part in the 'stunt' today-"

"And you continue to incorrectly address me. You will address me as _Professor _or _Headmistress_ when you speak-"

"Dumbledore's the Headmaster of this school. _Not you."_ When I said this, I had figured that I was already in trouble, so what could a little more do?

A lot, apparently.

Umbridge breathed heavily. "Now, even though Education Decree Number Twenty-Nine has not officially been passed, I think everyone will understand when we resort to new measures for your punishment."

New measures…?

"But I will give you one more chance." Umbridge said to me. "If you will confess that you and Fred and George Weasley are wrongdoing, risky, unintelligent failures and you are sorry for all the chaos you have caused, then you won't be punished as harshly."

My Fred and George are not failures. I looked her straight in the eye and said, "I was told that I _must not speak out._"

Umbridge sighed, picked up her wand, and said, "_Crucio!"_

I screamed.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51: Ordinary Wizarding Level Exams**

"_How could this be legal?!"_ Hermione shrieked after I told her about Umbridge and the Cruciatus Curse. "She's completely crossing the line! _Completely!_ There's no way you can keep quiet about this, Ami! Ami?!"

I wasn't listening to Hermione. My mind couldn't seem to focus on any one topic for too long. I still felt like my head was being ripped in half…

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked in a softer voice.

"Hm? Oh yes, I'm fine." I said, looking at a distant point out the window. The fire crackled softly in the common room.

"You don't need to lie to me, Ami."

I looked back up at Hermione, and I gave her a sad smile. "I'm...I-"

I couldn't get the words out. She was right. I was _not _fine. But I would not cry…I would not cry…I would not cry…

I blinked hard, but it I was no good. Large drops of water fell from my eyes, and I began to sob. Hermione took my hands and pulled me into a hug. She didn't say anything as I cried. She just hugged me silently, occasionally rocking me like a baby.

I refused to speak up about Umbridge. Even if I wanted to, I knew I wouldn't be able to.

Since Fred and George had left, I had seen an abundance of other students trying to become the Hogwarts's Next Top Prankster. None of them compared to the twins, but it was kinda funny to seem them try. I, however, didn't attempt to create havoc. There was nothing left in me to do so. Umbridge had seen to that…

But I had written to Fred and George. I didn't want to say anything about Umbridge because I didn't want to worry them, but Hermione had made me. I was checking the Owlery today to see if they had sent me a letter back. But I had forgotten that a new edition had been added to the Owlery. The Inquisitorial Squad.

So, after marching up the steps to the tower, I came face to face with Draco Malfoy.

"Need something, Coy?" Malfoy sneered.

I glared at him. I didn't want to go through this today. "Please move, Malfoy."

"Oh, so Coy's got some manners?" A few others behind Malfoy snickered. "But if you have forgotten, all post goes through the Inquisitorial Squad before you can take a look."

"Fine." I said, pushing past him and entering the Owlery. "You can check my letter. And then I'll take it. Fair?"

"I don't know, Coy. We've got a lot of mail to go through today…" Malfoy drawled.

I growled at him, and pushed past a few other Inquisitorial Squad members to find the letter addressed to me. Luckily, it was right on top of a large pile of letters. I threw my letter at Malfoy.

"_Check it._" I demanded. I wanted to pull out my wand and shove it in Malfoy's face as well, but the thought of another night with Umbridge held me back.

Malfoy said, "Alright. Because I'm in a good mood today- Montague! Check the letter."

Montague took the letter from Malfoy, sneered at me, and ripped open the letter. I leaned against the wall of the tower, waiting. Montague called Malfoy over after a minute, and they both snickered as they read the letter.

After ten minutes, Malfoy came over to me with the letter.

"Wow. Took you ten minutes to read that. That's like a new record for you, Montague." I said, not being able to resist insulting Montague.

"Now, now, Coy. Be nice." Malfoy said. "And, unfortunately, I'm not sure if we'll be able to give this letter to you. It's from a pair of smelly blood traitors, so it might be contagious to anyone in its proximity. Not that you haven't already caught the disease."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you have anything better to do, Malfoy?"

He glared at me, and handed over the letter. I realized later I was very lucky that Malfoy was in a good mood that day.

Fred and George had luckily used the trick we had learned from the Marauders, and the second half of the letter was hidden until I said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." So, after reading a bit of small talky nonsense in the first part of the letter, I read:

_That old, crazy [_Fred used other a few other foul adjectives] _toad of a witch. You NEED to tell someone about this. She can't just use the damn Cruciatus Curse on you! Now you should definitely come live with us and get out of there. Right after OWLs. Or we're coming there to get you. Stay safe and be smart for now. _

That was the clean version of what I read.

A pit had formed in my stomach after I had finished reading the letter. There was something holding me back from leaving Hogwarts. Part of it was because I didn't want to give Umbridge the idea that she beat me, even if she has. It may have been stupid, but I was too proud to let that happen.

But then again…what was left for me after OWLs? Just a few weeks of school. What was the point in staying? But I could make it for just a few weeks, couldn't I?

I didn't write back to the twins right away, but when I went to sleep that night, I had decided that I would stay. But something told me I could change my mind tomorrow.

OWLs started today, and first was Charms. I sat with Hermione at breakfast, and it seemed like every Gryffindor fifth and seventh year was nervous. Hermione didn't speak to me much, and her eyes seemed to be focused on something far away.

After breakfast, we waited in the Great Hall where the four long tables were transformed into hundreds of small single desks. We took our seats and the Charms written exam began. I found myself halfway through the test in much less than an hour. It was easier than I thought it would be.

The practical exam began that afternoon. My instructor told me to perform a Levitation Charm and a Color Changing Charm on the rat in front of me. I levitated the rat easily, but when I changed its color, it looked more like a light red color than an orange color. I hoped the instructor didn't notice.

The next two weeks went similar to today. We went through Transfiguration, Herbology, Defense against the Dark Arts, and Ancient Runes in the first week. Transfiguration went better than I thought it would. We were tested on the Vanishing Spell and the Switching Spell, and personally I thought I executed both of those spells quite well. In Herbology, I planted a Fanged Geranium, and even though it looked like it was in a bad mood at the end, I wasn't worried about that exam. Defense against the Dark Arts went great, thanks to Harry, and the definitions and execution of each spell came easy. In Ancient Runes, we identified the meaning of different runes. This was a bit confusing, but I think I at least pulled an Acceptable.

The next week we did Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Arthimancy, History of Magic, and Astronomy. Potions was the exam I was most worried about, but without Snape in the classroom, I found I actually could create the Potion accurately. Care of Magical Creatures I wasn't really concerned about, but I heard rumors that Umbridge was going to fire Hagrid, so I tried my best. Arthimancy went well, after studying for hours with Hermione, who adored the subject. Then came History of Magic. Some of the questions I knew, but honestly, I didn't want to take that class another day. Therefore, I didn't try. I took to gazing at the ever-so-interesting wall. Harry passed out in the middle of the exam. I didn't blame him.

Astronomy was interesting. I was almost through with my star chart, that probably wasn't very accurate, when everyone started screaming and pointing down at the grounds. Being at the very top of the Astronomy tower, we could see all of Hogwarts' grounds, including the scene straight below us. McGonagall was yelling angrily at a group of wizards as they approached Hagrid's hut. Suddenly, the wizards shot Stunning Spells at McGonagall and she immediately fell limp. A few people around my screamed, including Hermione. "Those rotten cowards," I whispered at the same time that Hagrid came out of his hut and bellowed, "RUDDY COWARDS!"

I spotted Umbridge among the group, and she was screaming at the others to 'get him.' The wizards sent Stunning Spells at Hagrid, but he somehow deflected him. Hermione whispered to me in a scared voice, "He's half giant. Giants are harder to stun." Hagrid knocked out the wizards with his large fists, and ran off towards the gates.

"That _evil _woman. I can't believe she snuck up on Hagrid in the middle of the night." Hermione growled.

"I can't believe that you find that surprising." I said darkly.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52: Dumbledore's Army Reunites**

Exams were over. All over the castle, things seemed a little happier. Well, as happy as you could be with Umbridge in charge. Every House was planning their own party. I liked to party, so, of course, I was highly involved with the setting up of Gryffindor's party.

"It will be dusk til dawn, of course." I said to Ginny and Luna as we walked together back to the common room.

"Oh, that won't be a good idea. Moon Frogs mate this time of year from dusk til dawn. I wouldn't want your Gryffindor party to be interrupted by their beautiful, but quite loud croaking." Luna said matter-of-factly.

Ginny mouthed to me, "_Moon Frog?"_

I shrugged. "Don't worry, Luna, Moon Frog Croaking is my favorite beat to party to." I said cheerfully. Ginny stifled her laughter and Luna gave me an odd look.

"So anyway, I talked to Fred and George about sending in some-" I broke off. There were loud shouts coming from the empty classroom we passed. Ginny looked concerned. I narrowed my eyes, and pushed the door to the classroom opened.

There, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were standing. Harry was breathing hard.

I addressed Harry, "Everything alright over here? We heard the shouts-"

"It's none of your business." Harry snapped.

Ginny and I both raised our eyebrows. "Oh?" I said in a challenging voice.

"Wait. They _can_ help." Hermione said to Harry. "If we can find a way to contact Sirius in Umbridge's fireplace, and use Ginny and Luna and Ami as a diversion, then we'll know for sure if he's really in trouble."

"Sirius is being tortured by Voldemort _right now._" Harry growled.

"Please Harry! Just let us try." Hermione said desperately. Harry thought for a while, his face hard, until he finally nodded.

Hermione first filled us in on what was going on. Harry had had a dream that Sirius Black was being tortured by Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry. Hermione wasn't sure if Harry was being tricked by Voldemort or not, so they wanted to try to contact Sirius in Grimmauld Place before they went to the Ministry. My job with Ginny and Luna was to guard the corridors so no students went up to Umbridge's office while Harry was talking to Sirius using the fireplace. We were to sing "Weasley is Our King" if we saw Umbridge coming.

My stomach lurched at the thought of Umbridge catching us. I immediately cursed myself for acting so weak. Umbridge didn't scare me.

Ron went off to get Umbridge out of her office, while Harry and Hermione went under the Invisibility Cloak. I nodded to Ginny and Luna and went off to my corridor.

Only a few students tried to get by, but I told them in a breathless voice, "Oh no. This corridor was filled with Garroting Gas. You do _not _want to go down there."

Then I spotted a few familiar faces coming towards me.

"Good to see you, Draco, Gorilla One, and Gorilla Two." I said sarcastically, nodding to Crabbe and Goyle. "You don't want to go down here. The hall was filled with Garroting- URGH!"

Goyle had pulled me into a headlock, and pulled my hands behind my back. He then snatched the wand out of my hands. "What the hell are you doing?" I hissed at Malfoy.

"We've been informed that you, Weasley, and Loony Lovegood have been sending students away from this corridor, and the Headmistress wanted us to put a stop to it. Meaning, we know all about your little scheme with Potter, Weasel, and Mudblood Granger." Malfoy sneered.

I spat at him. "Be nice, Coy. Crabbe-go get Loony. I'll get the Weasley girl." Malfoy said.

I thought on my toes, and screamed: "WEASLEY IS OUR KING! WEASLEY IS OUR-"

Goyle covered my mouth with his hand, but I bit down hard and tasted blood. Goyle howled like the true monkey he is, but didn't take his hand away.

Soon, Crabbe had caught Luna, and a few other Slytherins arrived with Ron. Draco tried to catch Ginny, but Neville attempted to stop him. However, Montague caught Neville easily, and then the four of us were stuck. We were dragged back up to Umbridge's office, but believe me, Ginny and Neville and I made it very difficult for our captors to do so. I made Goyle's arm bleed from pinching down on his skin with my nails, and I think I broke some of his toes from stepping on them so many times.

In Umbridge's office, Hermione was being held by a Slytherin girl, and Harry was being interrogated by Umbrige.

"Excellent." Umbridge said when she saw us. She studied Ginny and Ron. "Looks like it will soon be a Weasley-free zone at Hogwarts, doesn't it? And Weasley -wannabee- free." She looked at me when she said the last part.

"Nice to see you too, Umbitch." I replied, glaring at her. Umbridge huffed angrily, took a step toward me, but seemed to think better of it and turned back to Harry.

Umbridge went back to interrogating Harry. She asked Harry who he had been talking to in her fire, but he refused to say. I looked at Harry closely. Based on the wild, frantic look in his eyes, I guessed that Sirius had not been in Grimmauld Place.

Umbridge gave up on asking Harry, and sent for Snape to help interrogate. When Snape came, Umbridge demanded for Veritaserum. I recognized the name from study sessions with Hermione. It was a truth potion. Snape responded saying that Umbridge had used the last bottle on Harry, and another one would not be ready for a month.

That set Umbridge off. "I wish to interrogate him! You are on probation! You are being deliberately unhelpful!" She shrieked at Snape.

Then Harry spoke up, "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!" I had no clue what he was talking about, and Snape didn't seem to either. He told Umbridge he had no idea what Harry was talking about, and promptly left.

Through all this nonsense, I had continued to struggle against Goyle's grip. But I realized that simply trying to get my arms loose would never work, due to Goyle's tremendous amount of arm strength. But Goyle's legs were weak and wobbly compared to the rest of his large body. If I could get him a bit off balance, then kick his legs-throwing him off his feet- as the final blow, I could get loose. But I had to wait for the right moment, since I couldn't do it with the Slytherins and Umbridge around. For now, I resigned to quit my struggling so Goyle would loosen the grip on my arms.

"You are forcing me, Potter. I have no choice. The Minister would understand this…The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue, Potter." Umbridge said finally.

Both Hermione and I screeched, "NO!"

But Umbridge had a scary look in her eyes. The same look I had seen the day that I had detention with Umbridge after the twins left.

She raised her wand at Harry. "_Cru-"_

"No!" Hermione screamed. "We have to tell her. There's no other way."

"Hermione what are you doing?" I asked, very surprised that Hermione gave in so quickly.

Ron, Neville, and Ginny also looked at Hermione with shock. Luna, however, was gazing casually out the window.

Hermione sobbed, "I'm sorry! We have to!" I gazed at Hermione with utter astonishment. Then I noticed that even though Hermione sounded like she was crying like a baby, there were no tears coming from her eyes. She knew what she was doing.

Hermione spoke to Umbridge, "We were speaking to Dumbledore in the fire. We had to tell him that it was ready. The weapon. We've finished it for him, but none of us know really what it is or how it works."

I felt like a proud mother as Hermione spun her lie so quickly.

Umbridge seemed to be happier than a kid in the candy store. She immediately ordered for Hermione and Harry to show her the weapon, which Hermione said was in the Forbidden Forest. She also instructed for Malfoy and the rest of the Squad to stay in her office and make sure we don't escape.

As Umbridge, Hermione, and Harry walked out through the door, I threw a quick glance at Ginny, my mouth twisted into a devilish smile. She then looked at Ron, who looked at Neville, who tried to catch Luna's attention, but she was still gazing at a butterfly that landed on the windowsill.

I let my hands go slack, and just as I figured, Goyle's grip loosened. Perfect.

I threw my arm back and elbowed Goyle in the ribs. He staggered backward, and I kicked both of his legs out from under him in one motion. He fell to the ground, and I grabbed my wand out of his pocket. This all happened in an instant.

"_Stupefy!" _I yelled at the Slytherin girl holding Luna. At the same time, Malfoy hit me with an Impediment Jinx, which knocked me back into Montague. He pushed me off and my face hit the floor. But I sprang back onto my feet and yelled at Montague, "_Expelliarmus!"_

I disarmed him easily and shouted, "_Locomotor Wibbly!" _His legs collapsed and I punched him in the face before he fell to the floor. Around me was a blur of spells and fighting wizards and witches. Ginny and Ron seemed to be doing well, and surprisingly so did Luna and Neville.

I found Malfoy. "_Oppugno!" _I shouted, pointing at the papers and ink bottles on Umbridge's desk. Every office supply you could think of began to attack Malfoy. He tried to swat them off, and in the midst of everything yelled at me, "_Pertrificus Totalus!"_

But since about twenty flying papers were blocking his vision, his aim wasn't very good. His spell hit Millicent Bulstrode, who Ginny was fighting, and she was immediately locked in a Full Body-Bind Curse.

"_Engorgio Skullus!"_ I shouted, pointing my wand at Malfoy's head. Ginny cast a Bat-Bogey Hex at him at the same time. So, Malfoy's head grew to the size of a very large watermelon and small bats began to fly out of his nose.

"Come on!" Ron shouted to us, waiting at the door. All of the members of the Inquisitorial Squad were either unconscious, lying on the floor in pain, or dealing with the effects of some kind of hex. Ginny and I looked at each other, then ran out the room.

Ron led Ginny, Neville, Luna, and I to the Hogwarts grounds. Hermione and Harry were there, but they were running the opposite direction, out of the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione explained how Umbridge was carried off by a herd of centaurs. I would've loved to see that.

"So, how do we get to London to save Sirius?" Ginny asked.

"Well, we fly of course." Luna said.

"_We _aren't going to do anything." Harry snapped, "Hermione, Ron, and I are going to save him _without _your help."

The four of us burst into protests.

"We were all in the D.A. together!"

"You need our help!"

"We fought off all those Slytherins back there easily!"

A part of me understood why Harry didn't want us to come. The four of us weren't the most skilled wizards-well _three _of us weren't-but I wanted to be able to do something. We had trained so hard in the D.A., and we were ready. I'm sure Neville, Luna, and Ginny felt the same way.

"Well it doesn't matter. We still don't have a way to get there!" Harry said angrily.

As if on cue, we heard rustling in the trees. But nothing happened.

Harry whispered, "Yes!" as if something spectacular happened. He told us that two thestrals had just come out of the Forbidden Forest. You couldn't see thestrals unless you saw someone die, or so Hagrid had told us.

"Well we need three." Hermione said.

"That's four actually." I said fiercely.

"I believe there's seven of us." Ginny said.

"Well we can't all go unless five more thestrals-"Harry began, but stopped suddenly, looking at the trees.

"Five more thestrals just came?" I asked Harry in a bored voice.

"Yup."

"Well they're attracted to blood, and most of us are covered in it, so that's not surprising." Hermione said.

"Alright. But if you four are coming," Harry said, looking at Neville, Ginny, Luna, and I, "you need to know what's waiting for us at the Ministry. It's going to be difficult, and you need to be ready."

The four of us nodded solemnly. Harry motioned for us to find a thestral to ride on, but seemed to forget that we-with the exception of Luna- couldn't see the thestrals.

Luna took a step away from us, and kicked her foot over a space. She appeared to be riding on something, but we, of course, couldn't see it. Luna guided us to our thestrals, and helped us all on. It was the strangest experience I had ever had. I was straddling some large creature that I couldn't see, and was a few feet above the ground. I tried to grip its head, or what I thought was its head, but it was slimy and rough.

"Ready to go then?" Harry asked, a few feet ahead of us. I nodded, but my heart was pounding. Harry soared into the air first.

"Um. Well, Ministry of Magic in London, please." I said to the creature I couldn't see.

Suddenly, I was going higher in the air. I held on tighter to the thestral as we got higher and faster. Soon, we were soaring over Hogwarts.

I dared to take a look down. We were higher than the highest tower in Hogwarts. The castle got smaller and smaller behind us, and we were soon flying over fields of green, with nothing but the horizon ahead of us.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53: Department of Mysteries**

We reached the Ministry in an hour's time. A very scary, painful hour it was. So, when we landed in front of the old telephone box, Hermione, Ginny, and I practically kissed the ground. I had never missed the stability and firmness of cement so much in my life.

Harry quickly guided us into the telephone box, where we all got nametags. Mine said, "Ami Coy: Rescue Mission."

The telephone box then plunged into the ground, and eventually revealed the large, beautiful room that is the Ministry's Atrium. In the center of the room was a golden fountain that featured a witch, a wizard, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. I had been in the Ministry one before with my aunt, but that was many years ago. I didn't remember it being so magnificent, and yet, so ominous. It was deathly quiet, and there wasn't another soul in sight.

"Come on." Harry whispered. Our seven pairs of feet squeaked against the hardwood floors as we sprinted to the lifts. We squished into the noisy lift, which took us down and down and down until we reached the Department of Mysteries.

My heart thumped loudly as we stepped into the long corridor. At the end of the hall was the tallest door I had ever seen. Each step we took toward the door made the prospect of fighting Death Eaters more and more real…

Inside the door was another room. It was shaped like a circle, and the walls were lined with more doors. At least a dozen of them. Ginny and I exchanged nervous looks, before turning our eyes to Harry. He studied the doors carefully, when the room suddenly began to rotate. I took a step back as if to regain my balance, but it wasn't the room moving. It was the wall, and the doors moved along with it.

"What was that about?" Ron asked when the wall stopped spinning.

"To keep us from knowing which door we came from." I said immediately.

Harry nodded. "We should try a few doors. I'll know the right one when I see it."

Trying all those different doors was the last thing I wanted do, but I followed the rest of my friends through the door directly in front of us.

This room was mostly empty, except for a few desks placed around the room and a large fish tank in the center. There were round, gray objects floating lazily in the tank.

"Are they fish?" asked Ginny. I took a step toward the tank. Definitely not fish. I took a few more steps towards the tank, as if in a trance. Hermione appeared next to me.

Luna suggested that they were Aquavirius maggots. No one responded.

There was something very strange about the objects in the tank. I felt like I _had _to see what was in there. As Hermione and I examined the tanks, I noticed that each object was wrinkled, and had two equal halves…

"_Brains._" Hermione whispered, and I knew she was right.

"What is the Ministry doing with brains?" I said quietly, moving even closer to the tank.

"Let's get out of here. This isn't the right room." Harry said.

Hermione followed Harry and the others out of the room. I took one last glance at the tank of brains, and left.

The next room we tried had seats lined around the walls. In the center was an old, stone archway. A black veil hung from the archway.

I didn't find this room as enchanting as the brain room. Instead, I found it very chilling and wished to get out of there as soon as possible. Harry, however, approached the arch carefully. "Can't anyone else hear it?" He asked. "There's people in there!"

Luna said she could hear the voices, too. I looked at Hermione; she looked annoyed and nervous. Hermione ushered Harry away from the arch, reminding him of our mission.

In the room with the doors, we tried another door. This door didn't open, but it gave off a powerful aura. It seemed exotic, yet very familiar. Hermione, practical as always, told us that this couldn't be the right door. But this door seemed so right…I looked at it with longing when Hermione dragged me and the others away.

When we entered the next door, Harry said immediately, "This is it!"

I squinted against the bright lights that the room radiated. It was like a disco ball on steroids. I never got to discover what the bright lights were because Harry said, "This way!" and we rushed to follow him through another door.

The next room was filled to the brim with shelves, each lined with small glass orbs. Harry continued to run through the aisles, looking for a particular section. I held my wand tightly as I sprinted after him. My hand was sweaty.

We reached row ninety-seven, but there was no sign of Sirius. No sign of anyone, in fact. The only thing you could hear was our rapid breaths and the sound of Neville running to catch up with us.

"I don't think Sirius is here, Harry. Or ever was…" Hermione said quietly, stating what the rest of us were thinking. Harry turned away from us in shame. I wasn't particularly mad, though. I would've done the same if there was a chance someone I cared about was in danger.

I was about to say that none of us blamed him, when Ron said, "Have you seen this, Harry?"

Ron was looking at one of the orbs on a shelf. "It's got your name on it, Harry."

We gathered around to look at the orb. It read: "S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter."

All eyes were on Harry. He slowly reached up and took the orb off the shelf, studying it closely. My heartbeat started going at a mile a minute. I felt as if we had reached the climax of a scary movie, and the music was playing louder and louder, when:

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me," said Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.

Several black figures appeared out of the shadows. Death Eaters. Ginny and I both raised our wands, slowly, but Hermione shot us a warning glance.

Lucius Malfoy and a Death Eater that I recognized from the news, Bellatrix Lestrange, began to speak with Harry. They revealed that Sirius was truly not here, and Voldemort had lured Harry to this spot to get the prophecy, because only Harry could pick it up. Malfoy mentioned something about it describing why Harry had his scar.

At a point in their conversation, I heard a very, very quiet voice whispering in my ear: _Smash Shelves._ It was Hermione who spoke to me. I copied Hermione and whispered to Ginny, who whispered to Ron, who whispered to Neville, who whispered to Luna.

I raised my wand, just slightly, waiting for the signal. I spotted a single orb on a shelf, and mentally made that my target. And then Harry's voice yelled, "NOW!"

And all hell broke loose.

"_Reducto_!" all seven of us yelled at once. It was soon raining with glass and shards, and the shelf structures swayed dangerously until they began to crash into one another, like dominos.

"RUN!" Harry shouted.

I put my arms over my head and sprinted forward. Pieces of glass fell scraped my arms and face, but I gritted my teeth and kept running. I heard shouts of different spells and curses. I looked behind me, and shouted "_Stupefy!"_ at a Death Eater raising his wand towards Hermione.

I turned back and ran faster. Hermione pulled in front of me, but that was the last I saw of her. She turned a corner, and I followed, but I couldn't see her through the chaos. I stopped in my tracks, but Ginny and Ron pushed me forward. We ran to the nearest door, and dived in the room.

Luna fell on top of us. The four of us quickly scrambled up, and took in our surroundings. The room was very dark, and tiny lights glittered around us. Also, planets floated around us in midair. I had a childish urge to touch Saturn as it floated by, but I thought better of it.

Returning my mind to the situation, I went to lock the door.

"_Collo-_AGHH!" Before I could finish the spell, the door burst opened and I was slammed backward against a desk in the middle of the room. My head hit the top of the table, but I hoped back up and yelled, "_Reducto!"_

Some of the Death Eaters who had just run into the Space Room were blown backwards. However, one came straight after me yelling, _"STUPEFY!"_

"_Protego!"_ I said, and rolled to the side. "_Impedimenta!"_ I didn't see where the Death Eater landed, but I spotted Ginny having trouble with another Death Eater across the room. I shouted, "_Stupefy!"_ at whatever black figure I saw as I ran towards Ginny. I yelped in pain when I was levitated and thrown across the room, hitting several planets.

Feeling very dizzy and tasting blood, I saw that the Death Eater had now grabbed Ginny's leg. "_Reducto!"_ I yelled, but in my weak state, I missed and hit a planet. It was Pluto. However, it worked in my favor and when Pluto exploded, it sent the Death Eater flying. But the blast sent Ginny flying a few feet as well, and she screamed in pain when she landed on her foot.

I sprinted to her side, and tried to help her up. I heard Ron yell, Luna shout a hex, and a deep voice say, _"Sectumsempra!"_

I gave out a quick screech of pain, and saw that from my right hip down was now bleeding badly. Very badly. Luna shouted out another spell, before yelling at us, "Come on!" She was guiding Ron to another door, so I gritted my teeth and helped Ginny run-well, quickly limp- to the door.

We jumped through the door, and I shut it just as I heard a Death Eater scream, _"Avad-"_

I didn't even look to see where we were. I just closed my eyes and tried to slow down my breathing. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Hermione standing over me. Luna was telling the story of what had happened in the Space Room. She said Ginny probably had a broken ankle, and Ron had been hit with some spell and now he was very loopy.

Hermione helped me and Luna helped Ginny walk to another door, despite both our protests that we were fine.

Bellatrix Lestrange's high pitched voice came out of nowhere, "THERE THEY ARE!"

Hermione yelped, and shoved me through the door. Ginny landed next to me, and we were back in the Brain Room again. I didn't have time to regain my composure before we were joined by the rest of our friends and more Death Eaters. I hopped up, wincing in pain. I still shouted, _"Stupefy!"_ and hit a Death Eater in the chest.

Despite the blood pouring out of my leg, my mind was working pretty fine. I shouted, _"Expelliarmus!"_ and _"Reducto!"_ at another Death Eater. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hermione fall to the floor, unconscious. Close to her sat Ginny, who couldn't stand due to her ankle. I tried to find a place to stand in between them, to protect them both, but it made me an easy target. Nonetheless, I stood my ground between my two friends. Another black shape came toward us. _"Petrificus Totalus!"_ I screamed.

The figure froze in place, but another one came behind him. _"Crucio!"_ the other Death Eater said.

My vision immediately blurred. I began to swat at my stomach, because I felt something ripping and tearing at me. I began to cry when the pain traveled from my stomach to my brain. I screamed but I couldn't hear anything anymore. I pulled at my hair, desperately trying to get the pain to go away. I vaguely remember vomiting.

Suddenly, the pain stopped. It still hurt, but the force had stopped. But with my mind turned to mush, I couldn't figure out why. I turned slightly and saw a blurred form of Ginny getting hit with red light.

Then her face appeared clearly in my mind, then Harry's, then Neville's, then Luna's, then Ron's then Hermione's. Following them were the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tara, Lee, George, and finally, Fred. But his face was spotted with black.

Then everything went dark.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54: Voldemort Returns**

I felt like I was trapped in my own body, and my own body became a black hole. I knew I was still in pain, but I couldn't feel it at all. I just felt constantly tense, as if I was preparing for the pain. I heard voices-familiar voices- all around me. I tried so hard to get to them, but I couldn't. They seemed to get closer and closer. I tried to walk to them, but there was no end to the darkness. Until I heard a single voice calling out, "Ami?" That word seemed familiar. A light seemed to form in the middle of the dark. I walked toward it. When I finally reached the light, my eyes opened.

I saw Hermione's face hovering over me. But she was pushed away by Madam Pomfrey, who seemed relieved I was awake and gave me a potion to drink. Expecting it to be disgusting, I reluctantly drank the potion, but it was surprisingly warm and delicious.

Hermione said to me, "Oh thank goodness you're alright! We were worried when you wouldn't wake up."

I saw that Harry, Ron, Luna, and Neville were also there, reading the Prophet. They all looked completely healed.

"How long have I been-er-asleep?" I asked a bit nervously.

"Just all yesterday and today. Fred and George sent this this morning." Hermione said, handing me a colorful basket of goodies, some from the shop and some from their mother. Hermione also gave me a letter from them, but I set it down, not wanting to read it right now.

Hermione informed me that she wasn't completely healed from the curse that had been fired at her, but she was taking a bunch of potions and was improving. Harry handed me the _Daily Prophet_ that they had been reading, which headlines read: HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS. Obviously, the Minister finally believed Dumbledore and Harry's story.

"How did we get out?" I asked my friends.

"Some members of the Order came, including your aunt. Dumbledore came too, and he fought You-Know-Who." Ginny said. Hermione bit her lip, and grabbed the closest piece of paper-my letter. She scribbled some words on it, and then showed it to me.

It read: "Sirius died."

My eyes widened, and I didn't dare look at Harry. Ginny cleared her throat, "Flitwick got rid of Fred and George's swamp. But he left a tiny little corner of it, probably as a monument."

I nodded approvingly. "And Umbridge…?"

All six of my friends turned their eyes to the left. Umbridge was sitting on her own bed, sleeping. She was no doubt still recovering from her centaur incident.

Ron said, "She gets really freaked out when you do this." He made a sound with his tongue that sounded like hooves clopping on the ground.

Catching on, I called, "Hey look! Centaur!"

Umbridge sat up quickly, and looked around like a scared deer. When Madam Pomfrey came over, she sat back down, muttering some nonsense.

"Everything is pretty much back to normal. The only person's who's unhappy is Filch. He still thinks Umbridge is the greatest witch to walk the Earth." Neville said.

"I'm sure Draco-poo is unhappy too, right? Did they put his dad and the Death Eaters in Azkaban?" I asked.

"Yes, but the dementors have revolted, so we don't know how long it is before they escape." Harry said solemnly.

I sighed, and let my head fall back onto my pillow. The potion Madam Pomfrey had given me had made me feel much better, but it didn't change how tired I was. I fell asleep immediately, but this time, I had no more nightmares.

Hermione and I were cleared out of the hospital wing in a few days, just before the end of school. We packed our bags together in silence, as the rest of the Gryffindors had already packed.

"Are you staying at the Burrow this summer?" I asked Hermione.

She nodded, "Probably for the last few weeks or so. You?"

"I'll be at the joke shop. But we'll probably stop by a few times. Are you going to come down to see it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Of course, Ami. Now that you three are not selling them around the school, I'm perfectly happy admiring your little trinkets." Hermione said, smiling.

I rolled my eyes at her. "You'll be back at Hogwarts next year, right?" Hermione asked me.

I nodded slowly. "It will be different without the twins, though." I said quietly. "Much different."

I threw a chocolate frog at Ginny, but it accidently hit her right in the face. She glared at me, but there was a playful glint in her eyes. She scooped up a pile of the chocolate frogs we had, and began pelting me with them. I laughed as I tried to dodge them, and I started to throw them back at her, along with several other candies that I happened to grab. Hermione tried to tell us to stop, but that just led to her becoming our next target. I threw some Every Flavour Beans at her face, and they splattered everywhere.

Soon, our compartment on the Hogwarts Express was covered with all kinds of candies, and the three of us were laughing hysterically. Ron and Harry walked into our mess with bewildered expressions, but they sat down anyway and Ron began to eat a chocolate frog that landed on the floor.

Cho Chang and her friend Marietta passed by our apartment. I noticed Harry looking at Cho.

"How are you two, anyway?" I asked him. The last I had heard from Cho was that she and Michael Corner were in love, or something. Harry's expression turned dark.

"Nothing's going on with us," he said.

"I heard she's dating someone else." Hermione said.

"Yeah, Michael Corner." Ginny said.

"Wait, I thought _you_ were dating Michael Corner?!" Ron asked incredulously. Hermione, Ginny, and I all rolled our eyes.

"I was, but he got all sulky when Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw in Qudditch. I ditched him and he ran off to comfort Cho." Ginny said. "I'm dating Dean Thomas now."

"WHAT?" Ron exclaimed. Hermione and I already knew about Ginny's new boyfriend, and I thought they were cute together.

Luckily, the train pulled into King's Cross Station before things got ugly. Hauling my trunk, I went ahead with Ginny.

We spotted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George. I was about to run up to Fred and George but Mrs. Weasley stopped me with a great hug. "We're so glad you two are alright!" She exclaimed, pulling Ginny into the hug, too. "Tara sends her regards, Ami. She got held up in Transylvania."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." I said, trying my best to politely pull away from her. She smiled brightly at me, and released Ginny and I.

I looked behind Mrs. Weasley to find Fred and George, but they weren't there anymore. Then a pair of hands covered my eyes.

"Boo." Fred and George said.

I laughed and pulled Fred's hands off my eyes. I spun around and jumped into his outstretched arms. I giggled like a little girl as he twirled me around and kissed me. I didn't realize how much I missed him.

Fred set me down and I threw myself at George. I hugged him tightly with my arms around his neck, and lightly pecked his cheek. I watched him blush, and turned away so he wouldn't see my own face reddening.

I took Fred's arm, and waved goodbye to Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Fred, George, and I then Apparated to the shop.

Once there, my eyes had to adjust to the enormous amount of color. There were candies, and tricks, and joke items as far as the eye could see. They covered every corner of the walls, and it looked absolutely magnificent. Fireworks exploded periodically, and replicas of the twins and I shouted out descriptions of items at random times.

I walked in a circle, trying to take it all in, but that would be impossible. I turned back to Fred and George, my eyes shining with tears. "It's perfect." I said quietly.

I grinned widely and ran to my two favorite people in the whole world, hugging them both as tight as I could.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55: Business is Booming**

"That'll be 4 Galleons and 8 Sickles, honey." I said to the young boy who was next in line at the shop's counter. He was carrying a Fanged Frisbee, a boxing telescope, and a Screaming Yo-yo. He handed me the money shyly, and when I smiled at him, he blushed and scampered away.

"Next!" I called. The shop was complete chaos, and I loved it. Business couldn't be doing any better. We had tons of witches and wizards coming from all over Europe to see our shop. And we had a few more employees now, one of them being Verity, the assistant who helped us set up the shop.

Now let's just say Verity wasn't my favorite person in the world. She was a little blond petite girl, and I don't know why, but everything she did annoyed the hell out of me. Her squeaky voice, the way she moved stuff around the shop that wasn't supposed to be moved, and how George has taking a liking to her were all contributing factors. Fred and George both knew I didn't like Verity, but she was a good employee at the end of the day, and they refused to fire her. And George took pleasure in seeing me annoyed.

"Do you have any more Trick Wands, by any chance?" A witch who was holding three children asked me.

"Let me check for you." I said, a bit absentmindedly, as I wrote down the details of the last purchase. I spoke into my gold pendant, "George, Fred, come up to check the U-NO-POO signs when you get the chance." I had designed the pendants so Fred, George, and I could contact each other quickly from around the shop. Mine was in the form of a necklace, and Fred and George's were in the form of pins. If you spoke into them, it transmitted into the others' heads.

Remembering the witch's request, I walked briskly into the storage room. "Trick Wands…Trick Wands…" I hummed to myself as I looked for the little wands in the many boxes.

I found them fairly quickly, and I dashed back to the witch, but she was nowhere to be found. Either she had gotten lost in the crowd, or she had become impatient. I sighed and put the Trick Wands on their display in case she came back. People these days…

I returned to the counter when I felt a kiss on my cheek. I rolled my eyes as I turned around. "I told you- _not in the shop._" I said to Fred.

Fred pouted. "Why not? I only wish to show off my undying love for you." He said mock dramatically, and added, "No one minds."

"It's not just for that. You can be…distracting." I said finally.

That was definitely the wrong word. He raised his eyebrow at me, and I saw that familiar mischievous glint in his eye. "Distracting, eh? I didn't know I had that much effect on you."

I sighed, and turned away from him to start restocking some of the shelves. But Fred wouldn't leave me alone.

"Don't you have work to do?" I asked him, annoyed.

"Oh yes I do." He purred, putting his arms around my waist.

I pulled his arms away. "Did you get back to the guy from the Ministry yet?"

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't." Fred said.

"Very mature, Fred."

"Hey-where's the fun in maturity?"

"Front of the Shop. Section 14. Top Shelf." I said, handing him a box filled with toys.

He stuck his tongue out at me, but followed his orders.

_Knock-Knock_

George groaned from his seat on the couch. "It's 11 o'clock at night! What do they want now?"

"I don't know, George. What did you do to get the Ministry upset _this _time?" I said, going to open the door to our apartment. But it was not the Ministry. It was Tara.

"Surprise." My aunt said.

"What are you doing here?" I said, hugging her.

"Coming to see your little shop, of course." Tara said. I was a little offended by the term, 'little shop.'

"At 11?" I asked.

"Well, things are a bit busy at the Ministry. Couldn't come over sooner." She said, coming into our apartment. She hugged both Fred and George.

"Has Fudge been fired yet?" I asked her. She told me not yet.

Tara then pulled me aside, saying she wanted to talk to me. I took her to my room. My room was decorated quite minimally, besides the Gryffindor posters and a few Quidditch posters. I had a small desk and a bed that took up most of the space in the room, but that was about it.

I sat down on my bed. "Yes?" I asked. I didn't normally have long conversations with Tara. She had always been my friend more than she had been my guardian. But the look on her face told me something was wrong.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing." She said, quietly.

"Everything's fine. The shop's doing great. I love this little apartment. We're going to go visit the Weasleys soon…" I trailed off when I saw her eyes shining with tears. I didn't know exactly what to do. I hadn't seen Tara cry since my parents' funeral, but I didn't remember that too well.

"Um. What's wrong?" I asked. She looked up at me. The way her green eyes bore into me made me feel like I was supposed to know why she was upset. Then the light bulb turned on.

"It's Sirius, isn't it?" I whispered. I had completely forgotten about Tara's relationship with Sirius. I mean, they were engaged at one point, for goodness' sake! I hadn't seen Tara after Sirius died, as we went straight to the shop. I felt like an insensitive little brat.

Tara nodded slowly, but she didn't let her tears fall. She blinked rapidly a few times and then looked back at me, her eyes still sad. "I saw him a few times while you were at school. It was almost like old times." She said.

"I'm sorry," was all I said. Great consoler I was.

"It's okay. I'll be fine." She said, but she wasn't doing a very good job at making me believe it. "It was just that he had just gotten free, and then he was taken away again."

I pulled her into a hug. "I miss him." Tara whispered.

"I know." I hadn't known Sirius very well, but I couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to lose someone you loved. I shuddered at the thought.

I rocked Tara like a baby for a while, before she said she had to leave. She left before even seeing the shop.

I put all the money we had made from yesterday in our extra-safe safe, to be sorted out later. George came through the door with mail, causing a farting noise coming from the door to go off.

"Why couldn't we just use a nice bell instead of that horrible noise?" I asked him.

"Because it's amusing." George said.

"Yeah. 'Amusing' is the word I'd use for it." I said.

George threw the letters onto the counter one by one. "Letter from Mum, letter from Ministry, letter from Gringotts, letter from Fred's fan club, and-ah- letter to Miss Amelia A.R. Coy from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He said, taking the letter addressed to me.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Give it here." I said, already knowing what he was about to do. George still ran off with the letter, making me chase after him. I chased him through the shop until he ran into Fred, who blocked his path.

George held his hand as high as he could, still holding the letter. I didn't even bother trying to get it. George was already a head taller than me, so there was no way I could get it now.

"Must you do this _every time_ I get a letter?" I asked him.

"Yes I must." George said, opening the letter.

"You hate me, don't you?" I asked, exasperated.

"Very much so." George said with a grin. He read the letter carefully. "Well I'm sorry Miss Coy, but you have completely failed your O. ."

"Completely failed." Fred agreed. "They would like to inform you that you are no longer permitted at Hogwarts."

"But you are allowed to bunk with Filch, and work as his right-hand man." George said.

"Fighting crime and fighting dust bunnies." Fred said.

I rolled my eyes at their façade. "Will you give me the damn letter?"

Fred handed it over to me, after snatching it away playfully a few times.

I read the words carefully:

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

_**Ami Andromeda Rowena Coy has received:**_

**Ancient Runes….E**

**Arthimancy…..O**

**Astronomy… A**

**Care of Magical Creatures…E**

**Charms….O**

**Defense Against the Dark Arts…O**

**Herbology….E**

**History of Magic…...P**

**Potions…O**

**Transfiguration….O**

No way. _5 Outstandings! _I didn't even dream that I'd do so well in Arthimancy, and Potions! And I only failed one class, and who cares about History of Magic anyway? The only down side was that I had another year with Snape, but at least I can show off my Outstanding grade in his class.

I looked at Fred and George, "I did alright."


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56: Family Reunion **

**Sorry about the really late update! Between my dance recital, and going on a vacation, I've been pretty busy! Hope you are all having a great summer! Thanks for reading!**

"Brace yourself." Fred said seriously.

"For an overload of Fleur Delacour?" George sighed. I threw him a look.

"No, an overload of Mum." Fred said, opening the door to the Weasleys' home. "Knock knock."

I barely was able to take in my surroundings-a few balloons, a birthday cake for Harry- before I was knocked over by the force of Mrs. Weasley's hug.

"Ami, dear, it's so good to see you!" She squealed. Then she turned to Fred and George, "And you two! Haven't bothered to write or visit your poor mother in the past three months! Think now that you have jobs you can't come home for a bit? What have you been doing?"

"Oh I don't know. Running a rapidly growing business. Nothing important." George muttered.

Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth, but Fleur Delacour-who had recently got engaged to Bill Weasley-pushed past her. "Ami! Your 'air izn't pinned up!" She said as hugged me tightly.

"Er-I'm sorry?" I said. Ginny and Hermione appeared behind Fleur.

"'Ere. Look at my ring! Izn't it luvvely?" Fleur said happily, holding her hand out and showing off a beautiful, sparkling diamond.

Ginny made a gagging noise and Hermione rolled her eyes. I glared at the two of them pointedly. I knew neither of them liked Fleur, but I got along with her just fine.

Mrs. Weasley pulled all of us into the kitchen, where I wished Harry a happy birthday and helped myself to a slice of cake. Fred slid into the chair next to me and took my hand in his. The rest of the night was filled with fun and laughter and Harry getting a face full of cake-courtesy of George and Ginny.

The party came to a bit of a close when Fred stood up from his chair and said, "Well, congratulations on surviving another year, Harry. And Bill, congratulations on finding yourself a woman. But it's time for George and me to take off."

"What do you mean 'take off'?!" Mrs. Weasley screeched. "You just arrived!"

"Better leave while you still have all your limbs." I said quietly to Fred. He kissed my cheek, and he and George dashed out of the kitchen, followed by an angry Mrs. Weasley. I was to stay at the Burrow and go shopping at Diagon Alley with everyone else. As I watched the twins go, I was surprised to find that I was really depressed. I would see the twins soon, when we all visited the shop, but it was the first time in months of seeing each other every second of every day that we had been separated. It was like the beginning of what was to come this year while I was studying at Hogwarts without them. It was bad enough being without them for just a month last year.

But then again, maybe it would be nice to get away from them for a while. I was already starting to sound like a lonely, dependent little Chihuahua.

"I don't get how you can stand _Phlegm_ for more than thirty seconds." Ginny said as she brushed her hair while sitting on top of her bed.

I threw my pillow at her. "It's not nice to call people names." I teased.

"It's also not nice to point out another girl's spilt ends." Ginny said, referring to when Fleur criticized her hair while she braided it.

"So Fleur can be a little blunt, but she's nice when you get to know her. And you _are_ due for a little trim." I said.

She threw the pillow back at me.

"Well get used to it. She'll be your sister-in-law soon." I said.

"Not if Mum and I have anything to do with it." Ginny said darkly. Mrs. Weasley also didn't agree with the marriage of Bill and Fleur. She claimed that she thought they were rushing into things, but we all knew Fleur irritated her.

"Got some master plan, do you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm working on it."

"Sure you are."

Walking through Diagon Alley left me with an ominous feeling. Several shops were boarded up and abandoned by the owners who feared Voldemort. Ollivander and Florean Fortescue had both already gone missing. There were also not as many people bustling through the streets, and those who were walked quickly with their heads down.

I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck as the wind howled through the streets. It was the end of August, but today was an abnormally cold day. I gripped my bag of books with my bare, freezing hands as the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and I walked through Diagon Alley toward the shop.

The darkness of the line of empty shops was soon interrupted by the bright, colorful windows of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. One of our new slogans, 'U-NO-POO,' was right on display. I noticed Mrs. Weasley staring with narrowed eyes at the poster. It had never occurred to the twins and me that the sign would offend people. It was supposed to show a little humor about the war. Working in the shop had always made us feel separated from the dark situation around us, with all the color and laughter around us every day.

It seemed as if all of Diagon Alley was in our shop, as usual. A large crowd was rushing through the door ahead of us.

"Come on." I said to the Weasleys, and pushed through the crowd. I knew exactly how to weave past all the people and find the less crowded areas. When we were away from the crowd, I told the Weasleys to go ahead and explore while I looked for the twins.

I spotted Verity first. "Where are Fred and George?" I barked at her, for really no reason. But she, of course, just smiled her annoyingly bright smile.

"Oh, I last saw George at the counter-and I think Fred is in the back. Can I help you with anything?" She asked sweetly.

"No." I said without taking a second look at her, and dashing off to the counter.

George was there, and I said quickly to him as I walked by, "Your family is here. Go be nice."

I found Fred in the storage room. "Long time, no see." I said.

"It's only been a week, love." Fred said, raising an eyebrow at me. He put his arm around my waist, "Is the whole gang here?"

"Yup. We probably should go and make sure Ron hasn't broken anything."

"If you break it, you buy it." Fred muttered.

We spotted Hermione and Harry first. They were admiring the Peruvian Darkness Powder. I heard Hermione whisper, "This really is fantastic magic."

"Well, thank you very much, Hermione." I said, making her jump. I nodded toward the powder, "That one was my idea. But you should see the Wonder Witch products. Come on."

I grabbed her hand, and Harry and Fred followed. I heard them arguing about Harry paying for the products he picked out. Fred said he shouldn't pay, as he helped us get our start, and I completely agreed. But leave it to Golden Boy Harry to insist to pay.

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were already admiring the Pygmy Puffs. Hermione's eyes lit up as well at the sight of the furry little creatures. We had had them magically altered for extra-special cuteness. But don't worry, no Puffs were harmed.

Hermione spotted the Love Potions quickly. "Oh?" She said as she picked one up. "How well do they work?"

"Extremely well, girls." Fred said from behind me. "We tested them on some street urchin outside. He's been following an old hag for the past few weeks."

When he saw Hermione's shocked expression, he added, "Only joking." Fred then whispered to Ginny, "It was a _wrinkly _old hag."

Ginny picked up the Love Potion bottle, but Fred snatched it up. "Oh no, little lady. We hear you are doing pretty well with the boys without this."

"Ah yes, are you or are you not dating a Dean Thomas?" George asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"_Who told you that?" _Ginny growled. Her eyes landed on me, and if looks could kill, I'd be dead. I shrugged my shoulders and gave her a sheepish grin.

The Weasley clan along with Harry and Hermione had soon purchased a good deal of goods and toys. Everyone hugged Fred and George and said their good-byes, but I stayed behind for a bit.

"Well this is it, then?" I asked the twins.

"Until Christmas." George said with a grin, but his eyes looked sad.

"Are you going to miss me?"

"Not as much as you'll miss our handsome faces." Fred said. I punched his shoulder lightly.

"But we do have a little going away gift for you, darling." George said, and with a last, sneaky look at Fred, they both walked off.

I sighed, and tapped my foot as I waited. In about ten minutes, Fred appeared alone, carrying a red box tied with a pink ribbon.

"Here you are, Miss Coy." Fred said, handing me the box dramatically.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "This is quite fancy." I lifted the lid slowly.

Inside the box was what looked like a bundle of fur. Mismatched fur. It was brown with tufts of white and spots of orange. I slowly took the bundle out of the box, and my eyes might those of a tiny kitten.

I let out a squeal and held the kitten closer. "What is this for?" I said, smiling widely.

"Just in case you get lonely at Hogwarts."

"This is too sweet!" I said, and looked at the kitten's tag. It read 'Scarlet.' I looked back up at Fred. "Was this George's idea?" I teased.

He shrugged his shoulders guiltily, and behind me, I heard a loud, 'SPLASH!'

I turned around, still holding Scarlet the kitten, and saw a pool of water and bits and pieces of a red balloon. The remains of a water balloon.

Fred looked up. "You missed! How could you possibly _miss?"_ George was standing at the railing on the second floor, looking apologetic.

I laughed a little. "Just give up, Fred, love. You know it's never going to work."

With the kitten in one hand, I wrapped my other hand around Fred's neck and pulled him into a kiss.

A good-bye kiss.


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57: What Everyone Else Is Thinking**

Ginny and I lugged our trunks-along with her new Pygmy Puff and my new cat- down the Hogwarts Express. Ron and Hermione were already gathering in the Prefect compartment, so I had caught up with Ginny to find a compartment. But when we stopped by an empty one, she had the nerve to tell me:

"Oh, sorry, Ami. I said I would meet Dean." Ginny said, and the look on her face told me that it was supposed to be a private meeting.

"Uh, sure. Alright. I'll see you later then." When she walked off, I called to her, "Put on some lip gloss, will you?"

Feeling like I had absolutely no friends, I continued to trudge down the train, looking for a spot. But everyone compartment was either full of people I don't know, or people I don't like. Erin Macmillan-who was in the D.A. - and a group of other Hufflepuffs waved to me as I walked by. I gave them an awkward, fake smile, and kept walking.

Soon I spotted a large cluster of girls gathered in the center of the walkway. I spotted the top of Harry's dark-haired head in the middle of the cluster.

"Step aside. Step aside if you don't want a face full of boils." I growled at the group of girls, who immediately moved away. Harry looked relieved, and I grabbed his arm and continued walking.

"So tell me. Were those girls interested in the story of You-Know-Who or your heroic good looks?" I teased Harry.

He laughed a little sadly. "Least those girls didn't look at me like I was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Anyone else would never have heard of that creature. But I had talked to Luna Lovegood before, and I was aware of the famous, most-likely-mythical Snorkack.

Speak of the devil, we stopped by a compartment where Neville and Luna were sitting. Neville waved us inside and we took a seat.

I put Scarlet the cat onto my lap and petted her softly. She was kind of a weird-looking cat, with fur that was a hundred different colors and eyes that were so light blue that they were almost white. But I thought she was quite cute.

I listened to Harry, Neville, and Luna talk about Voldemort and the Ministry and O.W.L.s and Wrackspurts without really paying attention. Scarlet had taken an interest in Neville's toad called Trevor. She sniffed him and prodded him with her paw, making the toad jump around the compartment.

At one point, a small third-year girl came into our compartment, and gave Neville, Harry, and I a slip of paper. It was an invitation, from some new professor named Slughorn. The letter told us to meet him in his compartment.

I wasn't too keen on hanging out with the new professor, but Neville and Harry felt like they had to go, so I followed, leaving Luna alone.

Professor Slughorn's compartment was actually full of students- a few seventh year boys, a couple boys in our year, and Ginny.

I threw a confused look at Ginny, and she responded with a motion that represented gagging. This couldn't be good.

Professor Slughorn was a short, very very round man. He loudly and warmly welcomed Harry, Neville, and I, paying most attention to Harry. But he said to me, "You must be Miss Ami Coy! I've heard a lot about you!"

I gave him a sort of grimace/smile, and took a seat next to Ginny.

From what I could make out of the conversation that I barely listened to, Slughorn seemed to be assessing each one of us. One of the boys, Cormac McLaggen had family who knew famous people in the Ministry. Another-Blaise Zabini- had a famous mother. Slughorn also had Neville talk about his parents, who were tortured by Death Eaters. That was a bit awkward. But by the time Slughorn got to me, it seemed like almost everyone in the room had some sort of famous connection.

"Now, Ms. Coy, it's nice to have you here as well!" Slughorn beamed at me. "I hear your 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' is extremely successful."

I nodded, but when he waited for me to say more, I said, "Oh-um-yeah. It's doing great. Couldn't be better."

"Your products must require a lot of talent with magic, no? Your professors say you're quite skilled." Slughorn said.

I shrugged a little. "I guess you could say that. But I didn't think my professors liked me enough to say that."

Slughorn chuckled, and his eyes twinkled. "Very good, very good. And you co-own the shop with your friends, the Weasley twins?"

"Yeah. It's awesome working with them."

"And a little birdie tells me you are romantically involved with one of them?" Slughorn said with a smile.

"Well, I don't know. I don't normally talk to little birds."

Ginny scoffed, and Slughorn laughed loudly at my comment-which wasn't supposed to be funny. Blaise Zabini stared coldly at me.

Slughorn wiped his eyes dramatically. "People always said you had a bit of a mouth on you, Ms. Coy. I hear you're a bit of a firecracker in the classroom. "

"Not a firecracker. I just say what everyone else is thinking." I said matter-of-factly.

I threw a 'why are we here?' look at Ginny when Slughorn laughed again and made the room shake. She just rolled her eyes.

Harry told us later at dinner that Dumbledore said Slughorn likes to gather talented students who are bound to be successful in their future career. We also found out at dinner that Slughorn would not be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but the new Potions teacher. This meant that Snape would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, like everyone knew he had always wanted to.

Fun.

The next morning was our first day of classes. Potions with Slughorn was right after lunch, and I joined Hermione on the long walk to the Potions classroom. Together we complained about the excessive amount of Ancient Runes homework. I honestly didn't know why I had taken that class in the first place.

Slughorn started our Potions class very cheerfully, and proceeded to give us a short quiz on the potions that he had already prepared.

Something about Slughorn made me unconsciously tune him out, so I barely acknowledged Hermione answering all his questions correctly next to me. Even when he brought up the subject of a prize- a bottle of Felix Felicis, which I knew about from Hermione telling me about it- I was only partly listening. I already knew I wouldn't get the prize, with Hermione participating in the little contest.

But, I still would put effort into my attempt at the Draught of the Living Dead. My potion started pretty well, but by the last few steps, I wasn't making any progress. But to my relief, neither was Hermione. She seemed pretty frustrated as she tried to get her potion to become a lighter shade of purple. Harry to my left, however, had created a pretty perfect potion surprisingly. Hermione's eyes kept darting to Harry's potion frantically.

Slughorn called time, and Harry's potion was obviously the best. Slughorn, who had developed a bit of a celebrity crush on Harry, praised him for days, and then gave him the bottle of liquid luck. I clapped a little for Harry, more out of surprise, but Hermione just glared coldly at Harry and Professor Slughorn.

"Calm down, 'Mione. It's not like the boy cheated." I whispered to her.

"Huh. You never know." She said.

I never knew what it felt like to be a third wheel until dinner that evening. I sat with Ginny and Dean, because Ron, Hermione, and Harry were having one of their hushed, secretive talks that they thought no one noticed.( But believe me, the whole Gryffindor table knew when they were having one of their secret 'Fighting Voldemort' discussions.)

The whole time while I was trying to enjoy my roast beef, Ginny and Dean were snuggling and nuzzling and kissing and hugging and all the other gross stuff that Fred and I did, but I had never knew were so annoying. I tried to carry on a conversation with Ginny for about three seconds, until Dean pulled her away.

Maybe this was what George felt like.

Eventually, I said, "Well. I'm just going to head up to the common room. Gin, do you want to come?"

She didn't even notice me.

"Alright then. I'll just go. And stab myself in the eye with my wand. Twelve times. Then maybe I'll fight a dragon. Or two."

Ginny finally looked up. "Oh yeah, sorry Ami. I'll be there in a minute."

"Sure." I muttered, and left the two of them alone.

Ginny did keep her promise and she caught up with me in the Gryffindor common room. She looked flustered, and she kept apologizing for her and Dean.

"It's fine. You two seem really-uh-close, huh?" I asked her.

Ginny's face turned beet read. But she stopped in her tracks when she saw Ron, Hermione, and Harry. From what I picked up from their conversation, Harry had used the instructions from some former student's scribbles in his Potions textbook to make the perfect potion today in class. I noticed Ginny stiffening, and I remembered the story of how she had been possessed by Voldemort after listening to a magic diary of his.

"Did I just hear that you're taking orders from something someone wrote in a book?" Ginny asked Harry angrily.

"It's nothing like the diary-" Harry began, but he broke off when he saw Ginny's glare.

"Wait just a minute. So you're saying that the only reason you got the Felix Felicis was because you used some kid's fancy instructions?" I asked, also glaring at Harry.

"Um, yeah."

"Good for you." I said.

Hermione scowled, and then claimed that Ginny had a point. But Harry had Hermione use a spell to check if the textbook was cursed in anyway. And it wasn't.

Ginny still looked angry, but I pulled her by her arm and led her up to the dormitories. It was pretty early to head to bed, especially for me, but hey. Who else did I have to hang out with?


End file.
